Crews continue clean up of collapsed bridge near Salton Sea

Emergency crews continue to clean up debris after heavy rain from Hurricane Rosa caused a bridge to collapse above a waterway on the north shore of the Salton Sea.

As we reported on Oct. 1, flash flooding caused the bridge on Cleveland and 70th in Mecca to collapse, causing a truck to plunge into the canal.

Roads are still closed and the damage clearly visible more than a week later.

“When this area got the microburst, all this loose sand pushed up against the canal,” said Katie Evans of the Coachella Valley Water District.

That canal plays a critical role in bringing much-needed water to agriculture throughout the desert.

“The canal delivers water from the Colorado River to our agricultural and golf course customers, so we have a multi-million dollar agricultural industry depending on the Coachella Valley canal, it’s very important for us to protect,” Evans added.

The area is considered at-risk if heavy rains were to continue, threatening not only the canal’s infrastructure but the quality of water.

“We actually did lose a water main, it was a very small one, no one was out of water and it’s already been fixed,” Evans said.

Evans says the clean-up is expected to last about a month and a half.

“At this point, we have an emergency contractor working on site to clear that debris and we expect it to take up to 45 days,” Evans told KESQ & CBS Local 2.

Clean up is estimated to cost over $1 million. County transportation engineers are still surveying the bridge, at this time there is no timeline on when the road will reopen or the cost of expected repairs.