Date:  Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Contact: Rumina Suafoa, WSDOT Project Engineer, 253-534-3100
               Emily Pace, WSDOT Communications, 253-548-2438

TACOMA – Drivers should prepare for the closure of both directions of State Route 509 between I-705 and Port of Tacoma Road.

WSDOT closes the roadway Saturday, March 6 and again, Saturday, March 13 so crews can replace seven 140-foot-long, 113-ton girders on the Puyallup River Bridge’s fire-damaged southbound deck. Bridge girders connect to cross beams that sit atop bridge columns, linking the beams and supporting the roadway.

“A full roadway closure is required to safely set up a work zone, stage cranes and replace these enormous girders,” said WSDOT Project Engineer Rumina Suafoa.

During the closure, a signed detour will reroute drivers to I-705, I-5 and Port of Tacoma Road. The first closure, from 3 a.m. until 7 p.m. Saturday, March 6, allows crews to stage two 250-ton cranes on the bridge, and then lift the damaged, giant bridge girders onto flatbed tractor-trailers.

SR 509 will be closed again from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 13 so crews can place seven new girders in the southbound lanes. Both closures are weather dependent.

Repair work on the SR 509 Puyallup River Bridge began in October 2009. The project repairs bridge piers and replaces 14 girders – measuring 140 feet long – which were damaged in a December 2002 rail-car fire. Crews completed repairs on the northbound bridge deck in February 2010 and construction on the southbound lanes continues through June 2010. SR 509 is restricted to one lane of traffic in each direction through the work zone and the speed limit is reduced to 35 mph.

WSDOT awarded the $2.9 million repair contract to Granite Construction Company of Everett in June 2009. Funding comes from a settlement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

For more information, visit the project web page at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr509/puyallupriverbridge/.

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