Caltrans Waiting On Rain To Stop Before Finishing Raise 80 Project

LOOMIS (CBS13) — Federal highway officials say a number of bridge overcrossings along a major interstate in our region hang too low, so now work is being done to fix them.

If you're heading eastbound on Interstate 80, you'll see the bridge work at the exit to the town of Loomis.

CBS13 viewer Dave Smith says he's losing patience and is wondering when the project will end.

Caltrans says the work on the Horseshoe Bar Overcrossing is close to being finished, but they need two straight weeks of dry weather to finish the concrete paving.

"It has to be dry before they pave it because there can't be any moisture within the bridge deck, and then for the pavement to settle properly--it needs to be dry for an entire week afterwards," said Caltrans spokeswoman Liza Whitmore.

Caltrans says it had to wait to coordinate with the contractor because they're not dealing with just one overcrossing. The Raise 80 project aims to raise nine overcrossings to the needed height of 16 feet, 6 inches high.

"A lot of these overcrossings were built back in the '50s when trucks and all kinds of vehicles were lower, so their heights vary between 14-4--15 and so on," she said.

So how the heck do you raise an overcrossing?

"For seven of those overcrossings we are physically cutting the edges of the overcrossing—bracing them completely underneath and with jacks—lifting them up to the required height," she said.

For the other two, including work at the Weimar Crossing, Caltrans dug deep and actually lowered Interstate 80 to meet the clearance guidelines after the bridge was deemed to fragile to list. The same will be done for the Newcastle overpass, because it's a rail crossing.

Caltrans hopes to have the whole project wrapped up by the end of June.