WINNETKA : Work to Bolster Area Bridges Gets Under Way

Reinforcements designed to make bridges safer in an earthquake are under way on five bridges in the San Fernando Valley, a city official said Monday.

Seismic retrofitting, in which steel cable and brackets are used to link separate sections of a bridge and fasten them to stabilizing piers and abutments, is being done on four bridges that cross the Los Angeles River and one that traverses the Pacoima Wash Diversion Channel.

“Our main objective is to prevent collapse,” said Clark Robins, a structural engineer with the city Public Works Department.

Robins said the department will oversee similar improvements on 160 bridges throughout the city over the next two years at an estimated cost of $65 million.

“This all came out of the 1971 earthquake,” Robins said, referring to the high rate of structure collapse during that major temblor. “Engineers 20 and 30 years ago didn’t have the know-how we have now.”

Retrofitting of bridges crossing the Los Angeles River at Canoga Avenue, Reseda Boulevard, Lindley Avenue and Vanowen Street, and the Pacoima Wash Diversion Channel at Devonshire Street, began April 1 and is expected to be completed June 15. The project cost is $160,000.