PORT ANGELES – Clallam County must choose between raising money to build the Elwha Bridge or lowering the cost of spanning the river.
The second choice may be the only option, county Public Works Director Craig Jacobs said Tuesday.
A week earlier, Jacobs and Clallam County commissioners were stunned when bids to replace the one-lane span exceeded a their $10.9 million estimate by $5.5 million to $6.5 million – 50 to 60 percent.
Examining the bids led Jacobs to believe they were realistic for contractors to tackle bonding and building a major project far from the supplies of workers and materials of the I-5 corridor.
Furthermore, the project calls for a custom-designed bridge across a stream with strict environmental windows for salmon, bull trout and steelhead.
It also would span in a marbled murrelet flyway that has noise restrictions.
