Hood Canal Closure, WA state

I thought I would post a heads up about the closure of the Hood Canal Bridge May1, for a six week period. Anyone cruising this way might what to take a look at alternative routes.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR104HoodCanalBridgeEast/2009closure.htm

I'm sort of bummed about the closure but there will still be a fair amount of snow on the OP through the closure period so at least I wasn't planning any rides out there.

Lots of folks selling houses on the "other" side of the bridge this winter...

Yeah, I drive up to Anacortes quite a bit and take PT ferry over and back. Looks like it's going to be the super slab for a while. Early Sunday morning rides up I-5 ain't to bad.....

Hood Canal Closure

Thanks for the heads up, I have friends I want to visit over there, Now I'll have to pay tolls for Tacoma Narrows on the way back.

Steve,

This whole thing sort of slipped out of my mind until recently...if the weather holds up during the last week of April I might take a day off from my busy (haha) schedule and do the Canal Loop from Seabeck. If you've got the time and inclination you're welcome to ride along...I usually depart the house around 11 or so and ride up to Fat Smitty's at Discovery Bay for lunch.

Cheers! BJ

Bill

That sounds like a good plan. It's been couple of years since I've been on the part of the road. Beautiful ride... Let's keep in touch on that.

Scott, I noticed on the link I posted up above that there is going to be ferry run out of Edmonds to Pt. Townsend too.

Just did the Seabeck loop out to Belfair last week. Keep an eye out on the corners, still a bunch of them with left over sand due to low traffic volume.

Thanks Kaz...I live near Seabeck and see the county has been getting with the sweeping program. But ALWAYS good to be cautious this time of year... Had a solitary crash many moons ago due to road sanding, bruised ego and 15 buck trim damage but I learned that lesson.

Cheers! BJ

Fixing the Hood Canal bridge. Sure makes you appreciate our roadways....

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/apr/18/floating-bridge-will-get-an-extreme-makeover/

Thar she goes

The Hood Canal Bridge is now closed to traffic for about six weeks. The first piece of the original 1961 bridge to be removed on May 1 was the east half draw span, shown here being towed out of the canal. It will be towed to Vancouver Island, Canada, where it has been sold to a developer who intends to use the floating pontoons in a marina project. Meanwhile, traffic on U.S. Highway 101 along Hood Canal is reportedly flowing smooth on this first day of the bridge closure. Travel time from Port Townsend to Olympia: the usual two hours. Photo by WSDOT

First section of the 'new' Hood Canal Bridge to be installed before dawn Tuesday
Out with the old, in with the new. The last section of the 1961-era Hood Canal Bridge was removed Monday and the first section of the 2009-era bridge will be installed early Tuesday, May 12.

The bridge closed May 1 for a six-week project that replaces the east half and the trusses at both ends, resulting in a safer, wider, more reliable bridge, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Although the closure is more than just an inconvenience - an average of 20,000 vehicles use the bridge per day - decaying concrete and rusting steel made the east half replacement project a priority.

Monday, the north Olympic Peninsula is as disconnected from the "mainland" as it has been since the floating bridge's west half sank in 1979 and was reopened in 1982. Tuesday, the connection takes a big step forward with the arrival of the first piece of the new east half.

"Up to now, we've been focused on disconnecting and floating out the old parts," said Dave Ziegler, principal engineer for the Hood Canal Bridge project. "We're looking forward to reassembling the bridge with the new and improved pieces."

Tugs pulled out of Hood Canal just prior to noon Monday with the last piece of the old east half in tow. The 770-foot roadway section is to be replaced early Tuesday morning with a 943-foot-long pontoon section that is currently moored in Port Gamble Bay. This new piece weighs 60 million pounds.

Crews need to get a jump early Tuesday morning on moving the new three-football-fields-long section from Port Gamble for a couple of reasons, both related to tidal conditions. Port Gamble is a shallow channel, so setting sea at high tide is ideal. The early morning move also allows tugs to escort the new pontoon section into the canal with the help of an incoming tide.

"The project has really picked up steam the past several days," Ziegler said. "We've reached several milestones since late last week."

Those major milestones include:

ÔÇó Removal of a 928-foot section of floating east-half roadway on May 7. This is the section with the "bulge" to handle the draw span. The new east half will have no bulge.

ÔÇó Removal of the 1-million pound west end truss on May 8.

ÔÇó Removal of a 720-foot section of floating east-half roadway section on May 9.

ÔÇó Removal of the old and installation of the new west-end A-frame (supports new west-end truss) on May 9.

ÔÇó Removal of a 770-foot pontoon and roadway section on May 11.


Monday afternoon the last floating roadway section (770 feet) of the original Hood Canal Bridge was removed. Tuesday, the first piece (943 feet) of the bridge's new east half is scheduled to be moved into place. The old sections are being hauled immediately by the new owner to Vancouver Island. Photo by WSDOT

Progress on replacing the Hood Canal Bridge's east half continues on schedule. This view from the Kitsap County side on Monday marks the period when the Olympic Peninsula is as disconnected from the "mainland" as it has been since the floating bridge's west half sank in 1979 and was reopened in 1982. Tuesday, the connection takes a big step forward with the arrival of the first piece of the new east half. Photo by WSDOT

]Major new components for Hood Canal Bridge are now all in place.


All the major new components of the Hood Canal Bridge east-half replacement project are in place as of Monday morning.

Foggy weather did not stop contractors from hoisting the 1.6 million pound east transition span into place, and tug the final floating pontoon section into place May 18.

Monday's work follows the May 15 installation of the west half truss and the May 16 addition of a 900-foot section of pontoons.

Washington State Department of Transportation officials won't predict when the floating bridge's east half project will be finished within the six-week contract period that started May 1. However, almost half of the major milestones have been accomplished in just more than two weeks, even with two days lost to bad weather.

Now, attention shifts to "join" the floating sections with cables, anchors, electrical, hydraulic and mechanical connections.

"Everything is going well. We don't really know yet [on a bridge re-opening date] because the work coming up, the joining, is the most sensitive work," Becky Hixson of the WSDOT bridge project communications team told The Leader Monday. "The wind has to be 15 mph or less for the joining operations. It's hard to say on a schedule because a couple of days of wind, and we'd not be able to work."

Old pontoons new again

The world's longest floating bridge over saltwater - second longest overall - opened on Aug. 12, 1961. The west half sunk after a great storm on Feb. 13, 1979.

While most of the bridge's east half is all new, pontoons R, S and T were used on the bridge once before. According to the WSDOT, the pontoons were first used to decrease the amount of time the bridge was out of service after the February 1979 storm that destroyed the bridge's west half. By putting R, S and T in the place of the current west-half draw span, engineers opened the bridge to traffic a year before the draw span was completed. Once the west-half draw span was completed, R, S and T were moved to Port Gamble Bay and stored until towed to Seattle for refurbishing in January 2007.

Retrofitting these pontoons saved taxpayers both time and money, the WSDOT noted.

The work required to refurbish R, S and T was completed in only nine months. Crews removed the old roadway and constructed a new, taller, wider roadway on top of the 60-foot wide pontoons so the pontoons match the widened west-half pontoons. Minor structural modifications were also made, a leak detection system was added and lighting systems were updated, according to the WSDOT. The pontoons have been in Port Gamble Bay since October 2007.

New pontoons

The first new section of the Hood Canal Bridge was slid into place early on May 13 as scheduled.

The 943-foot section known officially as roadway pontoons U, V, W, and X was moved by tugboats from Port Gamble Bay around Salsbury Point and to the bridge's east side at 5 a.m. May 13.

The process of connecting the new pontoon sections includes a rubber seal around the joint where the pontoons meet, and careful alignment - within a height no more one-eighth of an inch, the thickness of two stacked pennies, for every 10 feet of surface. Temporary "stressing strands" are installed and pulled tight to hold the pontoons in place. Water is pumped out of the joint, alignment re-checked, blockouts installed to keep the permanent tendons clear, and the jointed is grouted.

Prior to installation, the floating pontoons are properly ballasted so their height in the water matches the necessary alignment.

Truss work

The 1.6-million pound truss connecting the land approach to the Hood Canal Floating Bridge's west half was successfully installed the morning of May 13.

Three General Construction derrick barges hosted the 280-foot long, 70-foot wide (30 feet wider than the old truss), 50-foot tall truss into place about 10:30 a.m.

The east half truss, identical in size, is slated for installation May 18. These new trusses are designed to match the bridge approach spans which were installed in 2005. The trusses have a tubular design that is modeled after offshore oil rigs to better handle the Hood Canal's harsh marine environment. There are no other bridge trusses like this in the state, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The old trusses have been barged to a salvage yard.

This is the first section of the new Hood Canal Floating Bridge's east half in place May 13 on the Kitsap County side. The second section was installed May 16. Photo by WSDOT

The 1.6-million pound truss connecting the land approach to the Hood Canal Floating Bridge's west half was successfully installed May 15. Three General Construction derrick barges hoisted the 280-foot long, 70-foot wide (30 feet wider than the old truss), 50-foot tall truss into place. The east half truss is slated for installation May 18. Photo by Patrick J. Sullivan

Some great photos of bridge work.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/photos/galleries/2009/may/18/hood-canal-bridge-work/3740/

Ah yes, the floating bridge I put earnest money on a house in Hadlock 2 weeks before she blew down in '79. At the time I lived at Poulsbo. Realtor let me have my money back as I worked in Kitsap County and didn't own a submarine.

Hood Canal Bridge could reopen as early as Monday, June 8

By Patrick J. Sullivan of The Leader

The Hood Canal Bridge could reopen Monday, June 8 - about a week ahead of schedule - if delicate work joining floating pontoons being undertaken this weekend is completed as planned. The floating bridge, which handles up to 20,000 vehicles a day heading to and from the Olympic Peninsula, has been closed since May 1.

Washington State Department of Transportation officials made the "early opening" announcement Friday afternoon.

"This is the best news that I've had in a long time," said Becky Hixson, WSDOT bridge project communication team manager.

The state's contract with Kiewit-General called for a six-week closure: from 12:01 a.m. on Friday, May 1 to 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 12.

But the contractor has been granted 3.25 "weather days" - extra time to the base timetable because of work hours lost to windy weather. That puts the six-week contract date now at 6:01 a.m. on Monday, June 15, Hixson told The Leader.

The contractor stands to gain $75,000 per day for every day - up to seven days - the job is done ahead of schedule, which now is June 15.

"Based on what we know this afternoon, the opening could be as early as June 8," Hixson said.

All the major new components for the world's longest floating bridge over saltwater were in place by May 18. But the work to "join" the new pontoons needs calm weather, and almost had to be called off May 21 due to wind.

"What really put us in a good position to know we will finish early was getting past joining pontoons UVWX and RST," Hood Canal Bridge Principal Engineer Dave Ziegler said in a press release. "Despite wind and weather, we found a way to get the job done."

WSDOT and Kiewit-General used special fittings on old anchor cables to temporarily hold the new pontoons in place, brought in extra tug boats so work continued during rough weather, accelerated pontoon installation during good weather and shifted crews to new tasks when they finished jobs early.

"We want to give our contractor and WSDOT crews a lot of credit for working through difficult weather and complicated technical issues to get us to this point," Paula Hammond, Washington Transportation Secretary, said in a May 22 press release. "This has been a very difficult project that required highly technical and precise work, and we are pleased that things have gone well."

State officials caution people who need to make medical appointments or other essential travel plans on June 8 or June 9, for example, to continue to make the necessary decisions as if the bridge were still closed.

"As soon as we know exactly when the bridge will reopen we will let people know, but until then people need to make their own decisions on alternate methods of travel," Hixson said.

Hood Canal Bridge could reopen by June 5

Updated info on the Hood Canal Bridge project and some great photos of the on going construction....

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=24313&TM=40107.7

Steve,

Glad it's finally going to be reopened...perhaps we could make a run to Fat Smitty's for lunch someday soon to check out the new bridge....

Heck, any reason to ride to Smitty's is a good one...but I would like to check out that new construction.

We'll have to keep our speed down under what was posted in that email you sent. LOL

Cheers!

Bill J

PS. Leaving for Hawaii on the 23rd, if we can't make a ride before then, perhaps right after we get back???

SeabeckS said:

Steve,

Glad it's finally going to be reopened...perhaps we could make a run to Fat Smitty's for lunch someday soon to check out the new bridge....

Heck, any reason to ride to Smitty's is a good one...but I would like to check out that new construction.

We'll have to keep our speed down under what was posted in that email you sent. LOL

Cheers!

Bill J

PS. Leaving for Hawaii on the 23rd, if we can't make a ride before then, perhaps right after we get back???

Click to expand...

Awww to eat another cheeseburger and fries at Smittys would be heaven. Used to ride there from Bainbridge Is. often. They were closed for a long time before we moved to AZ. Seems the cook/owner was caught taking a wizz off the back porch and lost the license. So glad to hear it is open again. Beside the cheeseburgers and fries the beer was pretty good also.