POULSBO — When people find out Dean Crawford runs the maintenance and operations at the Hood Canal Bridge, he says there’s one question usually on their minds.

“Everyone always asks me if my crew spends all day fishing,” he says, and adds with a grin, “ ‘with all their spare time,’ I like to tell ’em.”

It’s a Wednesday morning and a milky thick fog has descended on the structure, cloaking from those on the span between Kitsap and Jefferson counties the bright blue spread of the Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountain range perched above it.

Crawford’s seven-man crew is far from lackadaisical, as they and several construction contractors for the Department of Transportation scurry across the bridge’s underbelly fulfilling their morning routines. Cars, meanwhile, whiz by overhead, some sending off gusts of air, others stirring a mean grumble from the giant concrete water highway.

Two Washington State Troopers have also joined the crew in preparation for an opening — an operation resulting in a 600-foot break between the east and west bridge ends, lifting and sliding hundreds of solid tons so a submarine, two Coast Guard cutters and another accompanying nautical vehicle can make their way between. Raising a portion of the bridge and sliding another beneath it is no small undertaking, Crawford said.

“It’s not like lifting a sack of groceries out of the car.”

But with 500 openings a year on average, each lasting roughly 25 minutes, it’s something he and his team have down pat, and when given the signal, they get the show on the road like pure professionals. The bridge grows peacefully silent as cars are held back, and as if in anticipation of the opening the fog, too, has scattered. Sitting in his office in one of the two bridge towers, Crawford discusses work details with a member of his crew, stopping only briefly to take in an impressive view he’s certainly seen more than once. The watercrafts draw near, a horn on the bridge sounds and through the opening they go. Only once they’re clear does the horn sound again, signaling the bridge’s closing. Within minutes, it’s open to cars and back to business as usual.

Like a ship and its captain

Fifty feet above the trestles, Crawford’s office brims with piles of binders, plans and manuals, as if the inner workings of an engineering mastermind spilled onto stacks of paper around him. But above the desks and control panels is a panoramic view, capturing the Olympics, Mount Baker and all sorts of sea life.

“They don’t even pay me,” Crawford jokes, waving his hand at the impressive expanse. “You see eagles all the time. That’s really cool about being out here. You are, for all practical purposes, at sea.”

While that morning the water sequined in the sunlight, Crawford said it’s not always calm sailing, and unlike boats which can turn and maneuver in a storm, the Hood Canal Bridge is forced to take broadside even waves tall enough to surge over its towers.

“This is a rough old bird when it comes to winter,” he said. “We take everything broadside. It’s quite the ride.”

Crawford said he’s put in his share of time on the water, sailing the globe and even surviving three hurricanes.

“And nothing gives you the rush like this puppy,” he said. “She’s a good old girl, but boy, oh boy.”

In fact, the equipment in his office is sealed to spot with velcro.

Enough guts to go around

Though Crawford and his men can jump bridge when the weather gets too ugly, he said there’s no trouble in finding a capable worker in a sticky situation.

“I’ve got an absolutely excellent crew. You’ve got to look a long ways, long and far, to find a crew that will run toward a problem,” he said. “They’re a motley crew, but when it comes down to guts there’s no shortage of ‘em.”

While he jokingly says some are “getting a little long in the tooth,” — “let’s see,” he contends wryly, “Bill’s got 312 years of experience all by himself,” — he’s actually got a mixture, from the experienced to the relatively new. But none, as it sounds, would he trade.

Crawford himself has been on the job six years, but said he commuted across the Hood Canal Bridge for 21 years previously. A Shine resident, he formerly ran a mechanic shop in North Kitsap before directing operations and maintenance for the North Kitsap School District.

“I’ve been making this commute for a long, long, long, long time,” he said. “I kept waiting for this job to come up.”

Now, the Aberdeen native and great grandfather of two said while there are many good aspects to his job, nothing beats its proximity to nature.

“Even when it’s nasty it’s beautiful,” he said. “This is a very, very important structure. It’s more than just a highway. When you cross this bridge, if you don’t feel like you’re moving back in time you’re not paying attention.”