Driver still in hospital 5 days after being injured in Green Bridge collapse- County transportation director was ‘shocked’ by sudden end to bridge, believes ‘external factor’ likely played a role

We reached the man whose car ended up in Mill Creek beneath the suddenly collapsed Green Bridge. We also interviewed Howard Dashiel, Director of the Mendocino County Department of Transportation MCDOT. He said in a previous interview that the replacement would take 2-3 years, but he is now trying to get that done faster, next year if at all possible.  That interview is after the story about the driver. But here are two important quotes:

‘MCDoT was not seeing any visible signs of change from the last two years… I truly was shocked to learn Friday evening that this bridge collapsed.”

And 

“ I truly believe this – likely had some other external factor yet to be determined as the accident is investigated.  The reason may never be known .”

Jimmy Sausedo, 49, of Covelo, was driving his beloved 1973  light blue El Camino on Friday afternoon on Hill Road when suddenly he found himself at the center of California’s only public road bridge collapse of 2026.

The old Green Bridge, which had stood for 101 years, collapsed into a pile of twisted metal. The  El Camino landed on its top in the dry bed of Mill Creek, a good distance from the bridge. Sausedo was badly hurt. 

Initial reports from the scene, which we, and all other media, used, were that Sausedo, 49, had suffered minor injuries.  The CHP log states he got out of the car on his own and at first said he was OK, then left and came back. Paramedics looked at him. He was hurt.

Sausedo was to be taken by helicopter, almost three hours after the crash, to Santa Rosa Memorial, the CHP said. He was taken by an ambulance to a pickup spot in Covelo. Then the helicopter was diverted to Vallejo, according to the CHP report.  A first responder said Sausedo was badly hurt.

We reached Sausedo through email. He is in the hospital 5 days after the crash and not feeling up to an interview. He asked us not to publish a photo of him that we had. 

 Did he arrive, as it appears, at the worst possible moment and the one-lane bridge and the bridge pitched his car that far into the creek with the drama of a sudden collapse?  Could a big truck have crossed the bridge before him or could someone have hit the bridge before he arrived?  

The bridge warning sign was lying on the ground in one of the photos, mendocinocoast.news obtained.  Did someone knock it over that night before the crash, or weeks or months before? Possibly, first responders getting down to the car?

Does anybody know if this sign was down prior to the collapse? We have never been on Mill Drive, and for all we know, the sign has been on the ground for some time.

Could Sausedo have hit the bridge with the El Camino?

We asked CHP spokesman Olegario Marin those questions. He said that information won’t be released until the CHP completes its investigation, which could take several weeks. 

Our previous story:

Howard Dashiel, Director of Mendocino County DOT was shocked when he heard the bridge had collapsed somehow.

“MCDoT was not seeing any visible signs of change from the last two years… I truly was shocked to learn Friday evening that this bridge collapsed.  Yes, the bridge was weight-limited to about half of normal loads… had been for decades.  Yes, we wanted to replace it and had been going through the process.   But no, there were no telltale signs.  Repair work recommended in the report was quite routine and yes, the county crew would have addressed those lose wood deck issues… however the failure of the metal frame is not dependent on the wood deck which only caries the axial loads (gravity loads – strength for vehicle weight) – the metal frame provides the Lateral load strength and I assume some sort of lateral force contributed to this failure.  I don’t know what that is and might not ever know. “ Dashiel said.

The complete inspection report by Caltrans is in our previous story.

“My staff looks for any unusual changes between the two-year Caltrans detailed reports… My engineers or I have gone to look at changes of concern reported by staff… MCDoT then has the option to request a special extra review with the FHWA funded Caltrans , Office of Bridge Asset Management, Structure Maintenance & Investigations (M&I).  Or MCDoT has consultants on contract we can call on for special review if we see concerns.”

Dashiel said he feels comfortable driving over any county bridge. 

“I trust the counties’ bridges… you can look at MCDoT web pagehttps://www.mendocinocounty.gov/departments/transportation/current-projects for “Current Projects” 2006 Director Report (these also link to the CEO Report presented before the BoS)  Please note that this report was done BEFORE the Hill Road collapse and showed 2028 as the replacement date for Hill Road Covelo at Mill Creek – we still hope to make that schedule BUT as labeled all these projects have “Anticipated Construction” dates and can change.  Still, as I have been saying, we will do everything we can to replace this bridge by next year.”

Dashiel feels it’s likely that some external factor caused the collapse.

“All the other Bridges listed in the above-mentioned Director Report under Highway Bridge Program (HBP) are safe within any posted limitations until we replace them in my opinion.  I know that might sound unimpressive given what just happened in Covelo, but I truly believe this – Covelo likely had some other external factor yet to be determined as the accident is investigated.  The reason may never be known unless some witness provides additional information about how the bridge fell, or other evidence is found.”

We asked Dashiel if this was the worst county bridge the county has had to deal with. He described two bridges that were replaced on an urgent schedule, but that still look years, with regular monitoring.

“Your question about other bridges in the County… are or were there worse bridges?… yes, in 2005 when I got this job, we had a lowest scoring bridge at Feliz Creek on CR 110 in Hopland, which MCDoT had to reinforce with large I beams that was visibly destressed… took me seven years, but we replaced it.  More recently, the bridge on Lambert Lane in Boonville started experiencing a scour distress in 2016… we watched it took intermediate measures… started the replacement process, and now it looks like that bridge will be complete this year (ten years) later.”

The MCDOT has a list of bridges on the docket to be replaced, or at least work to begin in the next year:

Dutch Charlie Creek Bridge Replacement on Wilderness Lodge Road, CR 320, M.P. 0.72

Mattole River Bridge Replacement on Briceland Road, CR 435, M.P. 0.63

Mill Creek Bridge Replacement on Hill Road, CR 327B, M.P. 2.05

Philo-Greenwood Road Over Navarro River Bridge Rehabilitation, CR 132, M.P. 17.33

Outlet Creek Bridge Replacement on Reynolds Highway, CR 310, M.P. 4.87

Usal Creek Bridge Replacement on Usal Road, CR 431, M.P. 5.93

North State Street Intersection Improvements, CR 104, roundabouts at Kuki Lane and the southbound State Highway 101 interchanges

Note- there are other California bridge collapses featured in videos on social media. All of those are AI creations, and none happened. There is no database of all bridge collapses but our diligent searching yielded no results showing any other bridge has collapsed in California in 2026.

Another issue- beware of workers on the narrow, curvy road. We got this from Facebook: