Overall, the Hood Canal Bridge Project is 97 percent complete.
What is currently under construction?
- The bridge was closed to traffic May 1-June 3, 2009. During the closure, crews remove the existing trusses and the east-half of the bridge, float-in new roadway sections and connect them together, install new east and west trusses and transition spans, and test the electrical, mechanical and hydraulic systems. Find out more about:
- Upgrading the mechanical and electrical systems on the west half to function efficiently with the new east half is 44 percent complete. Work is scheduled to be completed by December 2009.
See the most recent construction photos on Flickr.
The major milestones to be accomplished during the closure are:
| Date |
|
|
Work Activity |
| 5/1/09 |
|
|
Close Bridge to Traffic |
| 5/1/09 |
|
|
Remove old retractable draw pontoons |
| 5/4/09 |
|
|
Remove old east truss |
| 5/7/09 |
|
|
Remove old draw span assembly (NOP) |
| 5/8/09 |
|
|
Remove old west truss |
| 5/9/09 |
|
|
Remove old west A frame |
| 5/9/09 |
|
|
Remove old roadway pontoons (Q and R) |
| 5/9/09 |
|
|
Set new west A frame |
| 5/11/09 |
|
|
Remove old roadway pontoons (STUV) |
| 5/13/09 |
|
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Move in new roadway pontoons (UVWX) |
| 5/20/09 |
|
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Remove old east-side pier four |
| 5/15/09 |
|
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Set new west truss |
| 5/16/09 |
|
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Move in pontoon RST |
| 5/17/09 |
|
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Connect pontoons UVWX and RST |
| 5/18/09 |
|
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Set new east truss |
| 5/18/09 |
|
|
Move in new east draw span |
| 5/23/09 |
|
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Connect draw span to pontoon RST |
| 5/25/09 |
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Set span between UVWX and RST roadway |
| 5/24/09 |
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Test draw span |
| 5/25/09 |
|
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Set span between RST and draw span roadway |
| 6/2/09 |
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Complete barrier installation |
| 6/2/09 |
|
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Complete joint work, grouting, post-tensioning |
| 5/31/09 |
|
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Complete utility connections |
| 6/3/09 |
|
|
Complete 20 consecutive draw span tests |
| 6/3/09 |
|
|
Open bridge to traffic |
What work has been completed?
- Building 14 new pontoons in four cycles at Concrete Technology in Tacoma and towing them to Seattle for assembly, outfitting and testing was completed in Aug. 2008.
- Building new approach span roadways next to the existing roadway was completed in May 2006. The work required placing the existing approach span on rollers; rolling that existing span onto temporary falsework; and rolling the new wider roadway into place.
- Widening the bridge’s west half to match the new east half by cutting away the existing deck, setting new girders on crossbeams, forming deck sections and pouring concrete was completed in May 2006.
- Constructing 20 anchors and placing them on both sides of the bridge at the bottom of Hood Canal was completed in September 2007.
- Fabrication and assembly of steel bridge parts such as transition spans, pontoon hatches, draw span machinery and draw span hydraulic components. Read the truss move and installation fact sheet (pdf 180 kb).
- Connecting the individual pontoons together into three large sections, building elevated roadway sections on top of the pontoons, installing all electrical and mechanical parts and testing the draw span retractable assembly units.