Bridge and Road Update

The County is Actively Working to Restore Access for Stranded Residents

According to Grey Tompkins and Johnny Wong, Tulare County RMA, the county is focused on restoring access to stranded communities as quickly as possible. Crews are actively working to make bridges passable on a temporary emergency basis at a minimum. After access has been restored along the primary roads, the crews will begin assessment work to determine what additional work needs to be done over the next few days.

North Fork

Bailey Bridge: Crews have been actively working on the bridge approaches since early morning, and they hope to have the bridge back open by end of day. The current fix is intended to be more permanent, with some potential reinforcement in the future.

Airport Bridge: The bridge remains closed. The crews hope to begin work on it this afternoon or tomorrow. Although the damage is not too severe, the rails are still off and will remain off for the time being. After the initial repair work is completed, the bridge will be available for emergency use at the driver’s own risk.

The crews have not yet assessed any debris flows or other issues further up North Fork, but will do so after other higher priority work is done.

South Fork

Community members have started clearing debris flows in the upper portions of the road.

Conley Bridge and Cinnamon Creek: County crews will attempt to patch up the Conley Bridge approaches as soon as the water level has dropped sufficiently. This could be in a day or two. The initial goal is to establish a way to get supplies across and then get equipment in to work on the Cinnamon Creek crossing and the debris flows.

Sequoia Oaks Bridge: The Sequoia Oaks Bridge is private, so the county does not currently have plans to facilitate access. Efforts are underway to provide assistance through other channels.

Mineral King

The Mineral King Road is closed at Hammond Drive. The damage on the Mineral King Road is very substantial, and the county will not be able to provide access in the near future. The county is reaching out for additional engineering services and is likely to hire a contractor to do the work. It may take weeks for full access to the county-owned section to be restored, however. Efforts are underway to assist residents.

Kaweah River Drive

There was a mudslide reported this morning. Because this road is private, residents are responsible for clearing it.

 

For more information, visit: tularecounty.ca.gov/emergencies/

Sign up for Emergency Alerts To receive emergency alerts directly from the County of Tulare, sign up for AlertTC at https://www.alerttc.com/.

[SOURCE: Tulare County RMA]