Earthquake shakes Las Vegas; Spaghetti Bowl ramps have reopened

Sections of the Spaghetti Bowl that were closed for inspection after Friday’s earthquake were reopened just before 5 p.m., according to the Nevada Department of Transportation. A 4.8-magnitude quake shook Las Vegas and surrounding areas Friday morning, and the state closed parts of the U.S. Highway 95 and Interstate 15 interchange for several hours to inspect ramps for possible structural damage, backing up traffic for miles. The quake, which hit at 11:47 a.m., was centered about 23 miles south-southwest of Caliente, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The magnitude was originally reported as 5.4, but the official number was lowered twice Friday afternoon. The ramp from southbound U.S. Route 95 to southbound Interstate 15 was closed about 12:20 p.m. Friday, NDOT said. But after inspection, the state determined the roadway was safe for travel. “The joint damage was pre-existing. The tremblor simply dislodged the protective rubber encasing the bridge seam making it look much worse than it was in reality” and prompting an immediate shutdown of the ramps, NDOT engineer Mary Martini said in a release about 3:45 p.m. An emergency contract was issued to repair the seam, but the ramps are structurally sound, Martini said. The southbound U.S. 95 and Martin Luther King Boulevard on-ramps to southbound I-15 were also closed as a precaution, the release said. NDOT tweeted at 4:53 p.m. that all ramps were open. The I-15-U.S. 95 interchange is the busiest stretch of road in the state, with 250,000 vehicles a day traveling through it — a number that could be even higher this weekend, NDOT spokesman Tony Illia said, as an extra 198,000 drivers come to Las Vegas for the holiday weekend. NDOT said it was not doing a widespread inspection of the state’s bridges as a result of the earthquake because most bridges are designed and engineered to withstand small quakes and high winds. “Nevada lies within an active seismic zone, which is something that we take into account during the project design and engineering phase,” Illia said. Meanwhile, the Highway Patrol was checking for possible damage at other major freeway interchanges, Trooper Loy Hixson said. Illia said Nevada has some of the best-rated bridges in the country, according to a recent report by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. Only 1.8 percent of Nevada bridges are classified as structurally deficient, which is the lowest in the country. The national average is 6 percent. Officials at McCarran International Airport said there were no disruptions in operations and planes were routinely taking off and landing after the quake. The Las Vegas Monorail, the High Roller at the Linq and rides at Circus Circus’ Adventuredome were unaffected by the earthquake, employees at each company said Friday afternoon.

2015-05-23T09:50:14+00:00
Duration: 02:50