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Week of Jul. 14, 2008
Long-range plan for short-span bridges
The guardrails are a clue that a short-span bridge is supporting the roadway under the bridge. | The King County Road Services Division will start work next week to replace four small bridges near Fall City – part of an ambitious multi-year program to replace 50 short-span bridges across the county.Short-span bridges are a critical – yet sometimes almost invisible – component of the transportation network in unincorporated King County. These small bridges are even with the roadway and less than 20 feet in length. They don’t have soaring spans or towering supports, so most people don’t even realize they are there under the pavement spanning hundreds of small creeks and tributaries. Almost all the short span bridges owned by the county suffer from advanced deterioration with rotting wood timbers or undermined concrete supports. The ones earmarked for replacement range in age from 80 to 50 years old. “These bridges have actually held up well over the years, but now both the concrete and the wood short-span bridges are at the end of their design life,” said Bridge Engineer Jamie O’Day. The new bridges being designed and constructed are stronger, comply with modern safety standards, and meet current environmental regulations.
Many of the timber bridges are 50 to 60 years old. | In 2007, the Roads Division implemented a Short-Span Bridge Program to replace two to four bridges a year, and completed two projects north of Fall City. Because bridges less than 20 feet long do not qualify for federal funding, King County is footing the bill on each project. The price of replacing just one of these small bridges starts around $400,000 at current construction estimates.The division’s Engineering Services Section has been working with local and state agencies to streamline the permit process and environmental compliance for the short-span projects. This will save time and money on both the design and construction costs. Originally, the short-span work for 2008 was scheduled to begin in August, but preparations were accelerated. The project starting the week of July 21 is located on West Snoqualmie River Road near Jubilee Farms, which is north of Fall City and southwest of Carnation. The road will be closed in that location through September. The one exception is Sunday, July 27, when the road will be open to bicyclists for a previously scheduled bike race. The other projects will begin in late July or early August, and two will also require full road closures. They are located at: - Southeast 24th Street just east of 309th Avenue Southeast;
- 308th Avenue Southeast on the east side of the Little League ball fields; and
- 264th Avenue Northeast south of State Route 202 and east of Ames Lake Road (intermittent road closures only).
Mt. Si Bridge construction could disrupt travel Motorists who travel across the Mt. Si Bridge near North Bend should watch for changing travel conditions over the next several weeks on Mt. Si Road. The King County Road Services Division is replacing the 94-year-old bridge across the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River with a newer and wider bridge. Right now the construction of the new bridge and pre-demolition of the old bridge is going on at the same time. The pavement on the approaches of the old bridge was pulverized last weekend to prepare for demolition, and motorists will be driving on loose gravel for two weeks. Then, in the late afternoon on Monday, July 28 traffic will be switched over to the new bridge and approaches. Crews will still be working on both bridges simultaneously for a while. Motorists are urged to drive with caution through the construction area, and obey the instructions of flaggers.
River closure extended The closure of the Snoqualmie River under the old Tolt Bridge west of Carnation is being extended through July 31 to give crews more time to demolish the bridge. The river has been closed to all boats and recreational users since July 1. The King County Road Services Division is in the process of dismantling the old bridge. The county opened a new Tolt Bridge on May 30, and the old span must be removed at a time of year when fish passage on the river won’t be disrupted. |
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The Seafair festivities are in full swing this week, and that means a weekend full of street fairs and more than a few traffic disruptions. Several will result in reroutes for King County Metro Transit service over the weekend. Just a partial list for this weekend includes: The Bite of Seattle at the Seattle Center; Indian Days Pow Wow at Discovery Park; Bon Odori and the Chinatown Parade in the International District; the West Seattle Hi-Yu parade; White Center Jubilee Days; Crown of Queen Anne events; and the Seafair Triathlon at Seward Park. Reroutes for bus service can be found on Metro Online by later in the week. And while the buses may have to detour, Metro is still a great way to get to most of these events. Just be sure to know where the buses are stopping during the event and what the weekend schedule is like for the routes serving the area.
After the All-Star break, the Mariners return for a set of three-game homestands starting with Cleveland on Friday, July 18 and then the dreaded Boston Red Sox on Monday, July 21. Metro is still providing special service for night and weekend games at Safeco Field to 13 outlying park-and-ride lots. For weekend games, there is special service both to and from the park-and-ride lots. The special service is only available post-game on weekday nights. The fare for special buses is $3 each way. For weekday games, which include a day game against Boston on July 23, there is plenty of regular Metro bus service traveling to and from the stadium area. Use Metro’s convenient online Trip Planner to research which routes provide the best connection from your home or office to the ballpark. See Metro Online for all the Mariners service details. | Subscribe to DOT DashSign-up to receive an e-mail text version of "Transportation Today," along with other significant DOT news by sending an e-mail to us with subscribe King County DOT Dash in the subject line.
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