The Holtville Bridge
A few years back we received a call from a firm we were familiar with; however, it was an attorney we had not worked with before. The young attorney described the client’s involvement in an accidental brush fire that began in its equipment repair yard. The brush fire was quickly contained but had spread off of the client’s yard and into the Alamo River valley. The Holtville Bridge is a railroad wooden trestle bridge that was built and dedicated in the early 1900s. It traverses the Alamo river which was fed by the Colorado River and spilled into the Salton Sea at the time. The brush fire caught this historic bridge on fire, and the tar-soaked, solid, wood timbers burned quickly. Thankfully, First Responders extinguished the fire on the bridge before too much damage was done.
There was no question of what had caused the fire- an equipment repair technician had inadvertently set the blaze while welding in the rear yard area of the business property. The TVCI assignment was fairly straight forward – assess the extent of damage to the antique structure and what it would cost to repair the damages. I met with the attorney on site, we examined the structure, discussed the case and even recovered some dated artifacts, bolts, washers, railroad spikes, etc.
The legal team was working on other positions, related to appraised values from title transfer documents, which placed a nominal value on the out of use structure. These arguments had merit but were outside of the TVCI designation or expertise. We were in the fallback position; there was damage, and it was ignited by a fire that originated on the client’s property during regular business operations. Our charge was to determine the cost to repair the structure.
Over the next few months, we met with crane operators from El Centro, bid the heavy timbers with Texas suppliers, we even priced custom logoed hardware, long bolts, and washers that would match the original structural design, as well as lend authenticity to the finished product. Over the years I became acquainted with a digital exhibit artist who is amazing, Ari Zahavi, and for the life of me I can’t even remember how we met, but this guy is a genius. He took my photos and turned the bridge into a three-dimensional model that was as accurate as if the bridge had never experienced the fire. I spent time with another old school framer associate, Danny Bogle, and we discussed how long each stage of the reconstruction would take. We calculated scaffold and high lift workers, demolishing the remnants of the existing burnt pieces, step by step, through to the rebuild. Eventually, I had my number for the restoration; it was sizable, but palatable for the situation.
The case was
In my position, you never know how you came across to the jury. You look for signs that they are paying attention, listening to you and understanding the information you are trying to exhibit but you never know until the attorneys get the verdict. Of course, litigators, like the Lewis Brisbois team, were on to the next case, the next trial and the next deadline, the day the trial was over. We as experts so rarely get to trial on the matters we work on, wait with little patience, because all we want to know is, did we win?
I was eager, but had other deadlines and other assignments to get out the door; I probably called
We could not have been successful without the entire team’s efforts. We are proud of this verdict. We hope the City of Holtville rebuilds the bridge to its prior grandeur, so bikers and pedestrians can once again enjoy this unique little piece of history.
