A portion of the I-5 bridge had collapsed into the Skagit River in May after a truck struck critical steel supports. The bridge initially reopened to traffic on 19 June after the installation of temporary spans. Since then, the focus has been on completing the permanent repairs; the task has been finished more than two weeks before WSDOT’s 1 October deadline.
WSDOT contractor Max J Kuney Company worked closely with designer Parsons Brinckerhoff, bridge-mover Omega Morgan and several specialised subcontractors to swap the spans in just 19 hours. Challenges included the time-consuming process of cutting through thick metal plates before being able to lift the temporary span.
The contractor team worked days, nights and weekends to build the new span in 66 days, hitting a major milestone in mid-August with the setting of eight major concrete girders to support the new roadway.
Work will now starting to raise and reinforce the bridge’s overhead structural support system to avoid a repeat of May's accident. The current support structure is curved, which means that the vertical clearance over the bridge’s centre lanes is higher than over the outside lanes in both directions.
