Date:
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Contact:
Becky Hixson, Hood Canal Bridge Communications Manager, (253)
305-6450
TACOMA – During a break in the winter winds, WSDOT and Kiewit-General towed 900-feet of concrete pontoons the 50 miles from Port Gamble to Seattle in 24 hours. The pontoons, named R, S and T, left Port Gamble Bay on the Kitsap Peninsula at 8 a.m. Monday morning and were moored at Seattle’s Terminal 91 at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. This tow brings the project one step closer to completion.
R, S and T kept drivers moving in the past and will again. R, S and T were first used to decrease the amount of time the bridge was out of service after the 1979 storm. 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. Now, R, S and T will be used a second time - as part of the new Hood Canal Bridge east half.
Crews will now start removing the old roadway and constructing a new, wider roadway on top of the 60-foot wide pontoons to match the height and width of the widened west-half. In addition, minor structural modifications will be made to pontoons and hatch covers, a leak detection system will be added and lighting systems updated. The refurbished pontoons will be towed back to Port Gamble this fall.
Retrofitting these pontoons helps the Hood Canal Bridge Project meet its May-June 2009 float-in date and save money and time. If three more new pontoons had to be built, the project schedule would increase by at least one year.
The new Hood Canal Bridge east-half will be comprised of 17 pontoons: R, S and T and 14 new pontoons currently being constructed at Concrete Technology graving dock in Tacoma. The new Hood Canal Bridge east-half will be replaced during the six-week May-June 2009 bridge closure.
The Hood Canal Bridge is the longest floating bridge over saltwater in the world. WSDOT and K-G lead the world in floating bridge technology. Learn more about this exciting, one-of-a-kind project by visiting www.hoodcanalbridge.com. The site includes web cameras, media kits, animations, historical photos, fact sheets, towing information and community stories about the bridge.
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