Two men were injured when the wood and steel false work supporting a new highway bridge under construction in Oroville, Calif., a town 70 miles north of Sacramento, collapsed on traffic early July 31. The injured men were a FedEx truck driver who was trapped inside his vehicle for more than two hours and a construction worker, who was working atop the bridge at the time of the collapse. Both are expected to survive.
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The concrete box girder bridge, which is 900 ft. long by 50 ft. tall, is being built at the junction of Highway 149 and Highway 70 in Butte County, about 65 miles north of Sacramento. The construction is part of the $105 million Butte 149 Project, which will expand SR 149 from two lanes to four lanes and add new interchanges at the State Route 70/149 and State Route 99/149 intersections. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2009.
The project is being built by a joint venture between FCI Constructors, Denver, and Watsonville-based Granite Construction.
Caltrans spokesperson Shelly Chernicki said the cause of the collapse is currently under investigation.
