SHINE — An active search for signs of a missing state Department of Transportation worker continued Sunday night.
Originally expected to begin at about 4 p.m. Sunday, the search was moved back to about 7 p.m. because of tides, said Claudia Bingham Baker, communications manager for the state Department of Transportation’s Olympic Region.
Searchers are looking for the Toyota pickup or other signs of an unidentified technician.
The worker has not been identified at the request of his family, according to acting Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar.
He is thought to have driven through a pedestrian cable railing on the lower deck and off the side of the Hood Canal Bridge as he left his shift last Monday night.
The area being searched is between 320 and 360 feet deep, Bingham Baker said.
The current in the area can get to about 5 knots, she said.
After searching unsuccessfully since Tuesday, crews Friday began working with sonar equipment from Global Diving and Salvage of Seattle, which is more sophisticated than the equipment used earlier in the week.
The advanced sonar equipment was expected to provide higher-density images and could scan a wider area in deeper water than the sonar equipment used earlier.
By Saturday afternoon, the crews had completed a survey of a large area around the bridge and were downloading the data they had collected.
The sonar images allow searchers to find “hot spots” — areas that are worth exploring with a submersible unmanned rover when currents and tides would allow its use.
“This week has been a hard one for all of us, and I am proud of the professional and compassionate way in which our WSDOT family is handling this tragedy,” Millar said in a letter to Transportation employees Friday.
“Difficult times still lay ahead and I encourage everyone to continue supporting each other as they have this week.”
