Fair Oaks Bridge is "Strucurally Deficient".

By Pat Meyering

The Sunnyvale City Council has neglected for more than 3 ½ years, to repair a heavily used bridge, that was rated "Structurally Deficient" by the State of California.

The Fair Oaks Ave. Bridge, near downtown Sunnyvale, was inspected in April 2006 by the California Department of Transportation [Caltrans]. Because of multiple problems, outlined in a 4-page report (available in full on my website http://www.pmeyering.com)

Caltrans' Civil Engineer found that the deck of the Fair Oaks Bridge "is in very poor condition and in order to protect the integrity of the structure a deck rehabilitation" was warranted.

Deck cracking was noted to be very severe and of high intensity in spots in both north and southbound lanes. Compression joints showed signs of distress, with loss of adhesion. The replacement of all joints within the following 2 years was recommended.

The Fair Oaks Bridge is 42 years old and carries average daily traffic of over 28,000 vehicles, including school buses. The Inspector concluded that the Bridge was in generally good condition, but the repair work was "crucial to maintaining the structural integrity" and should be started within the following 2 years.

The Sunnyvale City Council's inaction on completing the needed Bridge repairs and their concealing of the Caltrans' Report on the Bridges deficiencies, are unacceptable. Two of the hotly debated issues in this City election, are the ineffectiveness of and lack of transparency with the current mayor and council. With the publicity over the last couple of years about the collapsed bridge in Minneapolis, you'd think the Council would have taken immediate action. When the San Francisco Bay Bridge was found to have a crack, authorities acted responsibly and undertook and completed repairs within a week.

In the case of Sunnyvale's Bridge, nothing's been done and the Report was concealed from the Residents. The Council should have disclosed the potential increased level of risk in using the Fair Oaks Bridge.