HAYWARD (KRON) — Across California, there are more than 25,000 bridges, and about 2,000 of them are considered to be structurally deficient.
A new report has identified three heavily used Bay Area bridges fall into that category.
The new report from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association identifies three Bay Area bridges that are considered to be structurally deficient.
That means one or more parts of the bridge are in either poor or worse condition.
All three Bay Area bridges mentioned in the report are in the East Bay– one in Contra Costa County and two in Alameda county.
The first bridge on the list is the I-680 overpass above Monument Boulevard in Pleasant Hill. It was built in 1998 and 235,000 cars pass over it every day.
The second bridge on the list is the Interstate 880 crossing over Whipple Road in Hayward. Built in 1956, this bridge handles about 230,000 crossings per day.
And the third overpass on the list is a span of I-880 over San Leandro Creek in San Leandro. That bridge is 65 years old and more than 200,000 cars use it daily.
Now, Caltrans said Tuesday that all three bridge are safe for travelers. They note that just because a bridge might be considered structurally deficient, that does not mean it is unsafe.
For example, according to Caltrans, the overpass in Pleasant Hill developed cracks when it was being built back in 1998 but regular testing of that bridge has shown that the cracks have no effect on the load capacity of the bridge.
And finally, Caltrans does admit that California’s bridges are aging and that a major investment will be needed in order to save them.