Dive Brief:

• Two highway construction projects in the vicinity of Stockton, Calif., have been hit by metal-scrounging thieves, one of them to the tune of $100,000 or more.
• The crooks yanked more than 1,000 feet of copper wire from where it had been installed in a California Department of Transportation road-widening project on Highway 99, the California Highway Patrol said, and it was not clear if the damage was just losing the wire or if pulling it out caused other damage.
• On Interstate 5, crooks earlier hit a construction project for about $12,000 worth of scrap metal, the CHP said.

Dive Insight:

Chantel Miller, a Caltrans spokeswoman, said the department lost about $50 million in 2012 to copper thieves statewide. The agency cannot make outdoor projects theft-proof, Miller said, and officials are hoping that someone who is out late at night or early in the morning will see something going on and will call law enforcement.