A day after a sinkhole in Carnes Road disrupted traffic as a result of heavy rainfall on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Feb. 4, 2019, officials continued to work diligently today to lessen the impact to residents. Over the evening, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force built a tactical bridge to provide access for first responders to cross the road. With the exception of emergency vehicles, the road has been closed since yesterday. The command is working to build alternate paths for residents and others to depart the area within the next few days.

“We have assets from water resources here taking a lot of the water out,” said U.S. Navy Commander Richard Contreras, public works officer, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, “ultimately we want to bring in a contractor as soon as Wednesday to start making repairs.” In order to start construction on the bridge, all of the excess water must be removed from under the damaged roadway.

The current focus for the public works department is to bring access to at least one lane of the road as soon as possible. The command will work feverishly to make it happen sooner. The repairs will be temporary, like the recently constructed tactical bridge with more permanent repairs to improve drainage systems so in the future this problem won’t occur. For more information stay tuned to the MCI-West Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton website and social media channels for updates.