BRIDGE RETROFITTING NEARLY COMPLETE.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A two-decade-long project of seismic retrofitting on state highway bridges and overpasses - which kicked into high gear after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake - is nearly finished in Los Angeles County, state officials say.

Work on the last three of nearly 800 bridges and overpasses on state highways, freeways and expressways in the county should be completed this summer - leaving only one toll bridge in the county to be retrofitted or replaced, Caltrans officials said.

The state Transportation Department is looking into replacing that bridge - the Schuyler Heim Draw Bridge between Terminal Island and Wilmington - which could take several years.

The three bridges to be finished by this summer are the Woodardia Canyon Bridge on Angeles Crest Highway seven miles north of La Canada Flintridge, the Arroyo Seco Bridge on Highway 134 near Pasadena and the Vincent Thomas Bridge over Los Angeles Harbor, said Doug Failing, Caltrans district division chief for design.

``The bridges have been designed to meet our seismic criteria to ensure they will not fall out from underneath you or fall on top of you in an earthquake,'' Failing said.

``We do expect the bridges to be damaged in an earthquake. So if you look and see cracks in the columns or that the bridge has shifted, don't get too worried. The bridge is not going to collapse,'' he said. ``We expect that kind of damage in a large earthquake.''

Caltrans officials released an annual report on the state's seismic safety retrofit program this week at a meeting of the California Transportation Commission.

Statewide, the program involved a total of 1,039 single-column bridges and overpasses. The report said work on all but two has been completed at a cost of $1.08 billion. The last two bridges are expected to be completed in March.

Statewide, the program also involved 1,155 multicolumn bridges and overpasses. Seismic work on 1,122 has been completed. Work is under way on 11 others, and has not begun on 22.

When those bridges are completed in the next few years, the total cost is expected to be $1.35 billion.

A separate category is state toll bridges. The remainder of the work to be done involves $2.62 billion in retrofits to seven of the nine state toll bridges. Most are in the Bay Area or San Diego.

In January, the state removed the toll from the Vincent Thomas Bridge. A $40 million retrofit of the bridge in San Pedro is expected to be done this summer.

Caltrans officials are considering whether to retrofit or replace the Schuyler Heim bridge.

``It would be nice to have the bridge open to the port in the event of a major emergency,'' Failing said. ``If there is a problem in another part of the Los Angeles Basin, we could use the port to bring relief equipment into the Los Angeles area.''

The retrofit program began in 1971 after the Sylmar Earthquake. The work took on more urgency after the Whittier, Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes.

``We were starting on the multicolumn bridges when the Northridge Earthquake hit,'' Failing said. ``The bridges damaged were the multicolumn that hadn't been repaired. That obviously accelerated the final stage to get us to where we are today.''

In the $2.7 million retrofit of the Woodardia Canyon Bridge, Caltrans is testing the tie-downs on the tall bridge to ensure the structure will remain firmly attached to the ground in an earthquake.

``We want to make sure the bridge has sufficient strength,'' said Caltrans spokeswoman Pat Reid.

The $1 million retrofit of the Arroyo Seco Bridge involves putting fiberglass ``wraps'' around the bridge's concrete columns and girders.

``It's a very interesting bridge,'' Failing said. ``It's so unique looking, we wanted to maintain it the way it is.''