Crews inspect Center Street underpass

The Center Street underpass in Pocatello was shut down to westbound traffic Thursday for about an hour while crews inspected some recent damage to it.

Chunks of concrete fell from its ceiling a week ago, so crews have been inspecting it to check its condition. Thursday, crews wanted to check it to see how the damage held up after recent rainfall.

“We found today that nothing has changed, even with the heavy rains,” said Merril Quayle, public works engineer. “There’s no water coming down through, the spalling has been cleared off and we’ve got the protection in place so that it’s not falling down onto the vehicles.”

That was the determination of crews after a second inspection of the underpass on Thursday. Engineers said what’s happening with the damage is that the first layer of concrete is breaking apart and separating in some spots. Crews said the underpass hasn’t had any thorough rehabilitation work done on it since the 1960s. So for an underpass as old as this one, the damage crews are seeing isn’t unusual.

“This would be a normal wear and tear that we’re seeing,” Quayle said.

Crews have done some temporary repairs to help with the concrete. They’ve placed pieces of wood in between the steel beams to reinforce the structure and catch any falling pieces of concrete. Engineers said drivers don’t have anything to worry about.

“We’re not seeing any immediate danger or anything with it,” Quayle said. “This structure was built with a very big factor of safety and is still very viable.”

Quayle said city crews will keep an eye on the underpass and continue to do occasional inspections. He said the Idaho Transportation Department also inspects it every year. So he said it will be well-monitored.

Quayle said the city does have the underpass on its list to do some work on it in the future but for right now, he said the underpass is fine and perfectly safe.