Caltrans Resurfaces Pioneer Bridge After Previous Materials Fail

A major road resurfacing project on Highway 50 starts tonight in downtown Sacramento. Sections of the Pioneer Bridge will be closed at night and on some weekends.

Caltrans work crews will be replacing the pockmarked deck overlay with more durable surfacing material.

"We're going to grind off the existing 3/8 of an inch overlay. And we will be replacing that with a one-inch polyester concrete overlay," says Caltrans' Deanna Shoopman.

She says the new polyester concrete is longer lasting than the resin-based product that started coming off soon after it was installed three years ago. Shoopman says the agency doesn't know why the original material fell apart so soon.

"The material that we used at first was only a 3/8-of-an-inch thick product," says Shoopman. "We've used it on other locations and it worked successfully. Why it didn't work on this one? Can't answer that question."

Shoopman says crews are doing the work at night when traffic is lighter...and for another reason: "They're not able to lay the one-inch polyester concrete at a temperature over 95 degrees. So this is weather driven also."

The daily work schedule is Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. eastbound and westbound in the interior shoulder and the number one lane, reopening for the morning commute.

"And then we will start 55-hour closures on the weekends starting July 21 and that will be from 9 p.m. Friday until Monday morning at 6 a.m.," says Shoopman.

She says the goal is to finish the $25 million project by Labor Day.