PORT ANGELES — The Elwha River bridge reopened to traffic this morning with a new steel guardrail on the 85-foot-high vehicle deck, Clallam County Engineer Ross Tyler said.
The top deck of the six-month old span west of Port Angeles closed to traffic on March 11 so Parsons RCI could replace a temporary wooden railing with a 42-inch-tall weathering steel guardrail.
The original metal rail was 24 inches tall. County officials say the taller, completed railing will protect bicyclists from careening off the bridge in a crash.
Most pedestrians cross the river canyon on the pedestrian path — part of the Olympic Discovery Trial — suspended by cables below car deck.
Some bicyclists and pedestrians, however, cross the $19.7 million bridge on the upper deck, which is part of Elwha River Road.
The 589-foot span opened in September and replaced the one-lane Warren-truss-type steel bridge that served the county from 1914 to 2007.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
