Date:  Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Contact: Al Gilson, Communications Manager
WSDOT Eastern Region
2714 N. Mayfair
Spokane, WA  99207
(509)324-6015
gilsona@wsdot.wa.gov

Contractors for the Washington State Department of Transportation will begin work on State Route 27 next week to replace the Pine Creek Bridge and improve the adjacent roadway.

On March 29, Thompson Bros. Excavating, Inc. of Vancouver, WA will start on the work, located about half way between Oakesdale and Tekoa in northeastern Whitman County. This project replaces the existing timber bridge with a concrete girder structure. In addition, the adjacent roadway grade will be raised to eliminate flood-related seasonal road closures.

The existing timber-supported bridge that crosses Pine Creek is structurally deficient and due for replacement. In addition, during snow melt periods, water can flow across the low-lying roadway to the west of the bridge requiring closure of the highway.

Most of the early work will be off the main roadway, with only minor impacts to the motoring public. There may be some occasional lane restrictions with flaggers directing traffic. For several weeks later in the project, during the phase where the new bridge and roadway realignment is tied back into the existing highway, SR 27 through traffic will be detoured around the work via the Tekoa-Farmington Road and Belmont-Farmington Road. The entire project should be completed in the 2010 construction season.

Thompson Bros. Excavating, Inc. is the prime contractor on the job with a construction bid of $2,301,453. Funding for this project came from the Transportation Partnership Act passed by the 2005 legislature.

For more information on the project, along with weekly traffic and construction details, you can go to the web site at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr27/pinecreekbridge .

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