Six months after bridge crews initiated their “high wire act,” cable spinning on the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge is complete. On Wednesday, April 19, crews spun the last wire of the north cable’s 19th strand.
Between October and April, mile after mile of steel wire made a continuous trip from the Tacoma anchorage over the new towers across the Narrows and back again. With the help of two spinning wheels, 19,000 miles of pencil-thin wire made 2,204 roundtrips across the channel. In early March, bridge builder Tacoma Narrows Constructors (TNC) finished spinning and compacting the south suspension cable. Workers have been installing permanent steel bands and suspender cables every 40 feet along the 20.5-inch diameter "steel rope" that is the south cable.
During the next month, crews will finish installing 264 pairs of suspender cables on both cables. These suspenders will connect the future deck to the pair of 20.5-inch steel ropes. The suspenders, together with the main cable, will support the weight of the deck and the traffic crossing the bridge. The 46 deck sections will be making their way from Korea to Puget Sound in May and arrive on three ships in the Narrows in mid-June. For more information visit
www.tacomanarrowsbridge.com.
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Incidents of the Week - A Rough Week for Trucks:
Three semis, plus five cars, adds up to trouble on SR 512
Eastbound traffic on State Route (SR) 512 in Puyallup came to a halt on April 4 following a chain-reaction collision that involved three trailer-tractor combinations and five passenger cars. The incident occurred at 12:45 p.m. near the Puyallup fairgrounds in Pierce County. The chain-reaction began when a driver in the eastbound lanes rear-ended the car in front of it.
Despite the massive amount of debris that littered the roadway and median, and all of the vehicles involved – WSDOT’s Incident Response teams cleared the area and all lanes re-opened within 75 minutes. “It was the cooperation of all agencies involved that led to the safe, efficient and rapid removal of this collision,” said Mike Evans, IRT supervisor. Evans said Puyallup’s fire and police departments, the Washington State Patrol, and the tow companies all hustled to clear the scene.
Hay there on the freeway!
The trucker was traveling just a bit too fast for the freeway on-ramp from northbound US 195 to westbound I-90 in Spokane. The load? A lot of hay. Just after 6 a.m. on April 7 the driver lost control on the loop ramp, went into the through lane, struck another semi, and the load of hay shifted. The tractor rolled over, the hay came off the trailer, and all three westbound lanes of traffic came to a halt.
Traffic backed up for two miles within just a couple of minutes. WSDOT Incident Response arrived on the scene shortly after and was able to get one lane of traffic around on the shoulder, but it took a loader from the WSDOT Geiger Maintenance shed to push the hay off the highway into an adjacent landscape area. All lanes of traffic were restored by 8:30 a.m.
Tumbling down like a house of cards...
Just after 9:30 a.m. on April 10, Incident Response received a call about a trailer blocking the eastbound SR 14 ramp to northbound I-5. Responders received a report that a truck had lost its load. Upon arriving at the scene however, they found a trailer carrying a manufactured home had completely collapsed, blocking traffic on the ramp.
Incident Response joined by WSP and two additional WSDOT employees, set up traffic control using a message board and cones to warn motorists of the incident. The trailer and debris were on the side of the ramp, allowing enough room for traffic to get by with Incident Response helping to guide motorists through the scene. The crew completely closed the ramp for about 30 minutes, allowing tow trucks to safely remove the trailer and collapsed home. During this period, motorists heading eastbound were required to take an alternate route. Just after 11:30 a.m., WSDOT crews removed the remaining debris and the ramp was opened to traffic.
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Updates of Project Work Under Way:
I-5 Everett: Crews prepare to demolish the Everett 41st Street Bridge over Interstate 5 and replace it with a new, wider bridge with more lanes and fewer backups. On Saturday, April 15, crews closed the 41st Street Bridge for six months. Starting on April 17, crews will demolish the old structure and build a new bridge in its place. Building this new bridge is part of the I-5 Everett Freeway expansion project. When this $260 million project is complete in June 2008, drivers will have an additional lane in both directions on I-5 between 41st and US 2, an expanded HOV lane between SR 526 and East Marine View Drive, new I-5/41st Street Interchange, new right-hand Broadway Avenue flyover exit bridge, and dozens of new safety, traffic flow and environmental improvements.
I-5 Woodland: On April 17, WSDOT began repair work on I-5 from I-205 to the North Fork Lewis River Bridge just south of Woodland. Crews will replace damaged concrete panels on I-5 and install dowel bars between panels, to join them together. This process also includes grinding the ruts in the pavement surface which will result in a smoother ride for motorists.
US 97A Chelan County: Crews finished re-lining the Knapps Hill Tunnel with a concrete shell on April 12, one week ahead of schedule. This is the third of four phases of work to preserve and strengthen the tunnel between Wenatchee and Chelan. The highway was reopened to traffic at 5 p.m, ending a six-mile long detour that had been in place since February 6.
SR 530 - Darrington: The next phase of the SR 530 Slide Repair project began on April 17. The slide continues to threaten SR 530 near the town of Oso in northeast Snohomish County. WSDOT crews and contractors are in the process of building a large wall made of rock and gravel designed to add weight to Skaglund Hill and prevent it from sliding. When this work is done, the wall will be 500 feet wide, stretch 200 feet up the hill and be up to 30 feet deep in many places. That’s nearly two football fields worth of rock and gravel. Crews hope to have the wall completed by late summer 2006.
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Announcement: Transportation Commission meets April 17, 18 & 19
The Washington State Transportation Commission will hold its monthly meeting starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 18, and reconvening at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 19. During the meeting, the Transportation Commission will receive a report on public attitudes toward tolling and will discuss possible toll reductions for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The Commission will also engage members of the Traffic Safety Commission on the state’s strategic highway safety plan, and will be considering proposals to name a bridge in Lakewood and designate a section of highway in Eastern Washington. In addition, the Commission’s work team for the Washington Transportation Plan met at 2 p.m. on April 17, and the work team for the Transportation Innovative Partnerships will meet at 3:30 p.m. on April 19. All meetings will be held at the Transportation Building, 310 Maple Park Avenue SE in Olympia, and are open to the public.
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Gray Notebook Highlight: Stormwater Treatment Facilities
In the December 2005 edition of the Gray Notebook, WSDOT reports on stormwater treatment facilities in its the Environmental Program Annual Update. We construct ponds, swales, vaults and other facilities to remove pollutants from stormwater. To confirm the effectiveness of our pollutant removal efforts, we collected 109 samples of runoff before treatment and 129 samples after treatment along I-5, I-405, SR 525 and SR 167 during the 2003 - 2005 rainy seasons. Our studies found that our facilities exceed the State Department of Ecology goals for removing solids and phosphorus. We also removed most of the particulate metals in stormwater. However, effectively removing dissolved metals from stormwater remains a challenge. More details on this subject and other key issues can be found at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/accountability.
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April Upcoming Open Houses, Public Meetings and Events
18 - Tuesday, 6 - 7:30 p.m., Open House - WSF Strategic Plan: One of several meetings for the Washington State Ferries' Draft Long-Range Strategic Plan. The plan will guide operations and investments through 2030. Location: Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Avenue SW, West Seattle. For a list of all meeting dates and locations, visit us online or contact Hadley Greene, 206-515-3913.
19 - Wednesday, 5 - 8 p.m., Open House - I-90 Downtown Spokane: Learn about the upcoming I-90/Downtown Spokane freeway project. Location: Lewis & Clark High School, 521 W. 4th, Spokane. For more information, visit us online.
19 - Wednesday, noon - 1 p.m., Community Presentation - Hood Canal Bridge: WSDOT staff will provide updated Hood Canal Bridge project information, both about pontoon construction in Tacoma and mitigation planning for the 2009 closure. Location: Port Townsend Kiwanis Club, Fort Warden Commons, Fort Warden State Park, Port Townsend.
20 - Thursday, 11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m., Project Scoping Meeting - Seattle Ferry Terminal: Washington State Ferries is planning a new, updated Seattle Ferry Terminal to fix aging structures, improve operations and transit connections, and address traffic concerns on city streets. Location: Seattle Ferry Terminal, 801 Alaskan Way, Pier 50, Seattle. For more information, visit us online or contact Hadley Greene, 206-515-3913.
20 - Thursday, 4 - 7 p.m., Open House - SR 150, No-See-Um Road: WSDOT and the City of Chelan host an informational meeting for an engineering analysis for the intersection of No-See-Um Road/Golf Course Drive with SR 150. Location: Chelan Public Library, 417 South Bradley, Chelan. For more information contact Bryant Kuechle (Keek-lee) at the Langdon Group: 1-800-252-8929.
For more details, please visit the WSDOT Calendar of Events.
Weekly Report Archive
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