Crime & Safety
Another I-280 Flooding Caused By Glitch: Caltrans
Caltrans attributed Thursday's Interstate Highway 280 flooding — the second in as many weeks — to a technical malfunction.
I-280 SB at SR-87 #3/4 lanes and SR-87 offramp closed due to flooding. @CaltransD4 enroute to address problem. No ETO at this time. pic.twitter.com/fmq5eSBx1F
— CHP San Jose (@CHPSanJose) May 24, 2018
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — A technical malfunction Thursday morning at a Caltrans-operated pump house caused three lanes of Interstate Highway 280 in San Jose to pool with water was different than one that caused flooding in the same area last week, according to a Caltrans spokesman. On May 16, contractors turned two of the main pumps at the facility off in order to work on them and a backup pump on a separate flow system kicked in, Caltrans spokesman Victor Gauthier said.
The backup pump was overloaded and a fuse blew, which left water all over the road. Once the fuse was replaced, the system was operational until Thursday morning.
Around 4:15 a.m., Caltrans workers found that a circuit breaker that the two main pumps ran off of had failed, Gauthier said. The backup pump failed as well after the main two were down.
Find out what's happening in Cupertinofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"That's what made all of this not work," he said.
Caltrans workers responded and the lanes near the state Highway 87 interchange were reopened within four hours.
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Gauthier said Caltrans worked as quickly as they could to get the lanes open before commute time hit its peak.
He said the public has no need to worry about future incidents since a contractor is still out at the facility this afternoon and the pumps will be monitored and worked on over the holiday weekend.
- PREVIOUS: Flooding Blocks I-280 In San Jose
Thank you. I have seen other places in the area where ground water seeps out. So I guess this section of I280 was built by cutting into the ground. I know that area can be a problem during the rainy season.
— MartyGarrison (@MartyGarrison) May 24, 2018
I-280 at SR-87 lanes still blocked by flooding. SR-87 off-ramp also closed. Consider alternate routes. Slow down and drive safely please! pic.twitter.com/NYUxslo9Bc
— CHP San Jose (@CHPSanJose) May 24, 2018
UPDATE: Residual Delays on Southbound I-280 to CA-87 in San Jose. All Lanes Open.
— 511 SF Bay (@511SFBay) May 24, 2018
Doing a great job controlling traffic and cleaning up a flood on I-280 @CHPSanFrancisco #caltrans pic.twitter.com/lktIJYb4Nz
— Robert Antoine Noble (@Antoine_Noble) May 24, 2018
By Bay City News Service
Lead photo/video via CHP San Jose Twitter page