Bridge over 60 Freeway damaged by explosion to reopen next week

Politicians and transportation officials will reopen the Paramount Boulevard bridge over the 60 Freeway in Montebello by next week, more than five months after a double tanker truck exploded and irreparably damaged it.

The explosion occurred Dec. 14 when a tanker truck carrying 8,800 gallons of gasoline somehow caught fire and came to a stop underneath the overpass.

No one was hurt, even though it caused a fiery explosion that took hours to extinguish.

Officials closed a 10-mile stretch of the 60 Freeway in both directions for about two days and crews knocked down the overpass after deeming it unsafe.

Officials said the bridge is opening “early”; the original estimate to complete construction was scheduled for mid-June. They plan to celebrate at a news conference Friday, according to a news release from Caltrans.

“Crews will be making the finishing touches to the bridge before it is opened to the public by Monday, May 21,” the release said.

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-- Ari Bloomekatz

Photo: A workman walks on the demolished Paramount Boulevard bridge over the 60 Freeway in Montebello a few days after a tanker truck explosion closed it to traffic last December. Credit: Christina House / For The Times