Bridges: Condition and Inspections
The Department of Public Works owns and maintains over 450 bridges within the unincorporated communities of Los Angeles County. These bridges total more than 1.8 million square feet of bridge deck area and as of 2013, have an average age of 48 years.
Of those bridges, 292 are part of the National Bridge Inventory (NBI). The remaining are pedestrian and railroad bridges, or highway bridges less than 20 feet in length. A breakdown of the inventory is tabulated below.
| Public Works owned NBI Structures | |
|---|---|
| Highway bridges more than 20 feet in length | 292 |
| Public Works owned Non-NBI Structures | |
| Highway bridges less than 20 feet in length | 146 |
| Railroad bridges | 14 |
| Pedestrian bridges | 6 |
Each State is required to perform inspections and determine the safe load carrying capacity of bridges located within their State as set forth in Title 23, Part 650 of Subpart C of the Federal Code of Regulations, National Bridge Inspection Standards. As an agent for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Department of Public Works performs these functions for over 1,300 bridges in various Cities and unincorporated communities of Los Angeles County, not including those owned and maintained by Caltrans and the City of Los Angeles. The findings and work recommendations from the inspections are forwarded to Caltrans and the owners of each bridge for implementation.