Hood Canal Bridge may see closures through Sunday

Published 12:55 pm Thursday, September 10, 2015

Effective immediately and continuing through Sunday, Sept. 13, motorists who need to cross the State Route 104 Hood Canal Bridge are advised to check the status of the bridge before they head out.

Find a link to the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Hood Canal traffic page here.

The Washington State Department of Transportation will regularly update the status of the bridge, indicating whether it is open or closed to vehicular traffic, on WSDOT’s Hood Canal Bridge Web page.

Through the weekend, WSDOT’s contractor will continue work to replace an anchor cable located close to the drawspan as part of a construction project.

The request to check the bridge’s status stems from a six-hour unplanned closure from 10:30 a.m.-4:43 p.m. on, Sept. 9. A misaligned drawspan resulting from a combination of high tides, the cable work and a drawspan opening for a marine vessel caused the closure.

“The drawspan is more flexible than anticipated when we planned this work,” said Olympic Region Administrator Kevin Dayton.

“We apologize for yesterday’s unexpected extended closure. Unfortunately we can’t rule out the possibility the same thing will happen again until we get that anchor cable secured.”

Contractor crews are working to expedite the anchor replacement and a tug boat is on standby to maneuver the drawspan back into position should the same situation occur, state officials said. Particularly strong tides are complicating the process and maneuvering the drawspan back into position may only be possible during slack tides, they said.

U.S. Coast Guard regulations require state transportation officials to open the drawspan to marine traffic within one hour’s notice. The state has asked mariners to request drawspan openings only during slack tides, though mariners are not required to abide by that request.

The potential for another extended closure exists until the anchor cable is installed and tensioned, which is scheduled to be complete on Sunday, Sept. 13.

The construction project is replacing 21 of the bridge’s 42 anchor cables. Ten cables have been replaced; one is in the process of being replaced, and 10 cables remain to be done.

Crews plan to complete the project before the storm season arrives, typically in October, state officials said.

Friday opening to cause delays

Motorists are advised that the State Route 104 Hood Canal Bridge is scheduled to close to traffic at 1:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, for a marine opening.

The opening of the drawspan coincides with anticipated high tides, creating a similar circumstance that led to the extended six-hour closure to vehicular traffic on Sept. 9.

The Washington State Department of Transportation anticipates that Friday’s strong tides could once again prevent the drawspan from closing until slack tide around 5:30 p.m. WSDOT asks motorists to prepare for a lengthy delay in crossing the bridge and consider using alternate routes.

The potential for extended drawspan openings is the result of three converging factors: a disengaged anchor cable near the drawspan that is being replaced; a marine opening and high tides.