Southern Nevada bridges declared safe in wake of earthquake

By RICARDO TORRES LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

10 years ago

Officials from the Nevada Department of Transportation investigate possible damage on the ramp from southbound U.S. Route 95 to southbound Interstate 15 on Friday, May 22, 2015. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Follow Bizu Tesfaye on Twitter @bizutesfaye

Officials from the Nevada Department of Transportation and Nevada Highway Patrol investigate possible damage on the ramp from southbound U.S. Route 95 to southbound Interstate 15 on Friday, May 22, 2015. A 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook Las Vegas and surrounding areas Friday morning, and the state closed a portion of the Spaghetti Bowl to inspect a ramp for possible damage, backing up traffic for miles. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) Follow Bizu Tesfaye on Twitter @bizutesfaye

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers closes the Martin Luther King Boulevard on-ramp to southbound Interstate 15 on Friday, May 22, 2015. A 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook Las Vegas and surrounding areas Friday morning, and the state closed a portion of the Spaghetti Bowl to inspect a ramp for possible damage, backing up traffic for miles. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Officials from the Nevada Department of Transportation and Nevada Highway Patrol troopers investigate possible damage on the ramp from southbound U.S. Route 95 to southbound Interstate 15 on Friday, May 22, 2015. A 5.4-magnitude earthquake shook Las Vegas and surrounding areas Friday morning, and the state closed a portion of the Spaghetti Bowl to inspect a ramp for possible damage, backing up traffic for miles. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Officials from the Nevada Department of Transportation and Nevada Highway Patrol troopers investigate possible damage on the ramp from southbound U.S. Route 95 to southbound Interstate 15 on Friday, May 22, 2015. A 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook Las Vegas and surrounding areas Friday morning, and the state closed a portion of the Spaghetti Bowl to inspect a ramp for possible damage, backing up traffic for miles. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper closes the Martin Luther King Boulevard on-ramp to southbound Interstate 15 on Friday, May 22, 2015. A 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook Las Vegas and surrounding areas Friday morning, and the state closed a portion of the Spaghetti Bowl to inspect a ramp for possible damage, backing up traffic for miles. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Bridges are safe within a 50-mile radius of the May 22 earthquake near Caliente that shook Southern Nevada, the Nevada Department of Transportation said Monday.

Engineers inspected 55 bridges throughout Clark and Lincoln counties in areas that included Caliente, Pahrump, Overton, Mesquite, Bunkerville, Alamo, Pioche and Rose Valley, NDOT said. The 160-hour process yielded nothing abnormal.

Inspectors looked for things such as cracks, misaligned bridge members, displacement and settling, NDOT said.

“Happily, every bridge inspected was found to be structural sound and safe for public travel,” said agency spokesman Tony Illia.

The 4.8 earthquake on May 22 loosened a rubber casing on a bridge at the Spaghetti Bowl, which shut it down for hours.

A water line break on Eastern Avenue and U.S Highway 95 two days later is also thought to have been caused by the earthquake, the Nevada Highway Patrol said.

Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites