Reminder: Tulloch Bridge Closure Starts Tuesday
Jamestown, CA — Three days of evening-into-early-morning repairs at the Lake Tulloch Bridge on O’Byrnes Ferry Road will cause its temporary but complete closure for 12 hours at a time beginning tonight.
The closures, scheduled through Friday morning will begin each night at 6 p.m. and last until 6 a.m. During this time, as Sierra Conservation Center crews will be working to replace a very large water pump located deep under the bridge, it will remain closed to all traffic — even emergency vehicles. However, it will be open from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.
According to Sierra Conservation Center spokesperson Lt. Robert Kelsey, the center, back in 1963, installed two pumps under the bridge. While they replaced one 12 years ago, it is definitely time to tackle dealing with the second one.
“The crane required to pull the pump up is so large that it takes up both lanes of traffic,” Lt. Kelsey explains, which is why a full closure of the bridge is necessary. Efforts to coordinate with both Tuolumne and Calaveras counties over the project have taken well over a year, he adds, as the bridge, itself, is located on a line between the two counties. Explaining further, he shares, “The pump itself that we will be replacing is 125 feet below the bridge, itself…which is, again, why we need such a large crane to lift it up so we can replace it.” He says the center will do everything it can to minimize the impact on the local communities during the closure.
