Date:  Friday, January 30, 2009

Contact: Meghan Soptich, WSDOT Communications, 206-440-4788 (Seattle)

Bridge inspections go like clockwork; no damage reported

SEATTLE - No damage to state highways and bridges has been reported following this morning’s earthquake. Within minutes of the earthquake, our dispatchers in the Traffic Management Center received an alert and began notifying our bridge and maintenance supervisors.

Bridge technicians were immediately dispatched to inspect the viaduct, the I-90 and SR 520 bridges, as well as the approaches to those bridges. Crews with flashlights also headed out to inspect bridges and overpasses closest to the epicenter of the earthquake. They will check on structures throughout Kitsap, Snohomish, King and Clallam counties.

WSDOT inspects all potentially affected bridges and overpasses in the event of an earthquake over 4.0 magnitude. Crews will continue to inspect our structures throughout the day. No landslides or power outages associated with the earthquake have been reported.

Earthquakes pose substantial risks to the state’s transportation infrastructure. WSDOT is working to minimize the risk of bridge failures in the event of an earthquake with our seismic retrofit program. Through the program, we are currently working to retrofit 921 bridges statewide to strengthen them to resist future earthquakes. We began the 75-year program in 1991. For more information, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/Bridge/Reporting/SeismicRetrofitProgram.htm.

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