Date:  Monday, December 15, 2008

Contact: Jerry Barsness, WSDOT Bridge Superintendent, (360) 905-2200 (Vancouver)
Abbi Russell, WSDOT Communications, (360) 905-2057 (Vancouver)

KELSO – The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will remove twenty-two light fixtures from the SR 4 Peter Crawford Bridge on December 22 and 23. Following an analysis from the last bridge inspection, WSDOT is removing the lights as a safety precaution.

The bolts holding the lights to the concrete bridge structure are over 50 years old. Many years of condensation and rainfall trapped beneath the bolt covers have contributed to heavy corrosion of the bolts and nuts designed to hold the lights in place.

WSDOT will remove only the lights on the bridge approaches; the 12 lights on the truss span will remain in place. The lights on the truss span are attached to the structure differently and are not experiencing similar levels of corrosion.

Crews must reduce traffic to a single lane on SR 4 to safely remove the light fixtures above the bridge. This work is weather-dependent and may be rescheduled in the event of inclement weather.

WSDOT is currently analyzing the need to replace these fixtures and will develop a plan to do so if a need is determined.

The SR 4 Peter Crawford Bridge is a steel truss bridge built in 1951. It carries SR 4 over the Cowlitz River in Kelso. The bridge is inspected every two years and was last inspected in August 2008.

WSDOT bridge inspections are scheduled as part of a Quality Assurance Inspection Program; WSDOT’s Bridge Preservation Office re-inspects bridges as part of this program. Most WSDOT bridges are inspected every two years. In 2008, WSDOT is expected to inspect just under 2,000 bridges and inspection crews are currently on schedule to deliver that program. For more information about WSDOT's bridge inspection program, please visit: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Bridge/Reporting/Inspection.htm.

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