I-10 Bridge Will Get Nearly $1.5 Million Makeover

You may not have noticed the Stubby Wash bridge when you've driven along Interstate 10 east of Banning and Morongo Indian Reservation. But you're about to notice.

The bridge, on I-10 one mile east of the Palm Springs and Highway 111 interchange, is scheduled to undergo $1.48 million in repair work starting Aug. 21.

According to the California Department of Transportation, workers will need to build a $500,000 traffic lane as a temporary detour while Building Consulting Engineers, Inc. of Chino repairs the bridge.

The temporary lane will shift traffic and help keep traffic moving while workers get access to the bridge, but CalTrans public information officer Shelly Lombardo emphasized that motorists will need to slow down for safety. The CalTrans slogan is "Slow for the Cone Zone." Four highway workers have been killed in Southern California within the past year, she said.

The bridge essentially will get a major overhaul to its deck, or surface, and other repair work. The deck will be sealed with methacrylate.

The project is scheduled to last through June 2013, CalTrans officials say. The work will begin at night for the first three to four weeks until the K-rail has been placed and will then switch to daytime work for the remainder of the project, according to CalTrans.

Construction signs already are going up and the contractor was scheduled to start mobilizing this week.