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Caltrans: Rio Vista Bridge Repairs Could Take At Least A Month

RIO VISTA (CBS13) — A malfunction with the Rio Vista bridge has been a headache for both drivers and ships, looking to pass through.

At the Port of Sacramento, a ship carrying cement will finally get to pass under the bridge Saturday. The ship came from China but was left sitting as Caltrans worked to manually lift the bridge 30 miles away.

Caltrans says a plan is finally in place to manually raise the Rio Vista bridge and allow stranded ships to pass through. Using a wrench and counterweights, the bridge will be raised from 10 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Monday.

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Operators of the ship carrying bulk cement have been costing the owners $20,000 a day while it was stranded.

The Rio Vista bridge connects Solano and Sacramento counties on Highway 12 over the Sacramento River.

While raising of the bridge is good news for ships, it becomes a traffic nightmare for the 25,000 drivers that pass over the bridge every day.

The detour can take as long as two hours.

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Along with the concrete ship leaving, two other ships are scheduled to enter the port Sunday night.

Caltrans is still waiting on a gearbox to fix the bridge. The part is coming from the East Coast, and officials estimate repairs could take at least a month before the bridge is fully repaired.

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