PORT ANGELES — State Department of Transportation officials will review the status and future of the battered U.S. Highway 101 Elwha River bridge in a pair of open houses Feb. 28.
The 90-minute open houses, which will include question-and-answer sessions, will be in Forks and Port Angeles.
The first session will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Rainforest Arts Center in Forks, 35 N. Forks Ave.
The second open house will begin at 7 p.m. in Port Angeles City Council chambers, 321 E. Fifth St.
Transportation officials are monitoring the 90-year-old concrete bridge west of Port Angeles, which is being undercut by the now-free-flowing Elwha River.
“We are pleased to report that our monitoring continues to show that the Elwha River Bridge is stable,” agency spokeswoman Claudia Bingham Baker said in a Friday email.
Plans are in the works for replacing the bridge on a new, parallel or existing alignment.
An overwhelming majority of Clallam County citizens and several local governments have called on Transportation officials to build a new bridge on a new alignment, which would eliminate the sharp corner just east of the span and keep traffic flowing on the old bridge during construction.
The agency eliminated three no-build options from further consideration after hearing from about 300 citizens concerned about using state highways 112 and 113 as detours.
“I want to reinforce that our main goal is to keep the existing bridge operational until the replacement structure is built and put into service,” Bingham Baker said.
“Inspections and ongoing monitoring are part of that effort.”
The next bridge inspection is scheduled for Feb. 13.
Traffic will be reduced to one-lane alternating traffic for several hours that Monday to allow engineers to examine the structure.
The Elwha River has scoured the bridge piers and surrounding riverbed since the removal of the Elwha Dam in 2012 and the Glines Canyon Dam in 2014.
The riverbed has dropped some 14 feet since Lake Aldwell was drained in 2012, Transportation officials have said.
Crews found cracks in the bridge and discovered that the piers were built on gravel instead of bedrock.
Transportation officials plan to add large boulders in “strategic locations” in the riverbed to deter further erosion, Bingham Baker said.
State officials estimate that the new bridge-new alignment — option 7 — would cost between $18 million and $25 million and take one to two years to complete.
Clallam and Jefferson County commissioners, Port of Port Angeles commissioners and Forks City Council members have formally endorsed option 7.
Meanwhile, crews have placed backward-facing detour signs along highways 101, 112 and 113 in recent weeks to prepare for a potential closure of the Elwha River bridge.
“Even though the bridge remains stable and open to traffic, we must consider, and plan for, the possibility of a future closure due to changing river conditions or bridge structural concerns,” Bingham Baker said.
“In preparation for responding to that situation, we have taken the proactive approach of installing all the necessary detour signs now.
“The signs are turned away from traffic, but they can be rotated easily, allowing the detour to be implemented quickly,” she added.
“We hope to not have to use these signs, but we feel it is important to be prepared.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
