SHINE — The State Route 104 Hood Canal Bridge will close for 90 minutes next week as the Department of Transportation and contractor Kiewit-General continue ballasting measurements on the west half.
The bridge is scheduled to close to traffic at slack tide from 10-11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 so project personnel can conduct surveying and take freeboard measurements to determine the distance from the waterline to the tops of the pontoons, according to a press release.
“By conducting a single 90-minute bridge closure at night the project team avoids delaying traffic during peak day travel. Three 30-minute daytime closures would have been necessary to collect the same information,” said Hood Canal Bridge Project Construction Manager Scott Ireland.
The information that will be collected is necessary so crews can properly adjust the level of the pontoons in the water.
Achieving proper floatation of the Hood Canal Bridge’s existing west half is a critical step in ensuring it will match the new east half, which will be replaced during the bridge’s six-week closure in May-June 2009. The surveying keeps the project moving forward toward the closure date.
Retrofit and replacement of Hood Canal Bridge will take place starting May 1, 2009 and is meant to improve the existing structure, making it wider, safer and more reliable. For more information, visit www.HoodCanalBridge.com.
