OLYMPIA — Findings from the state’s investigation of how its own Department of Transportation handled the Hood Canal Bridge graving yard debacle will be released April 7.
The Transportation Performance Audit Board is scheduled to review the report when it meets at 9 a.m. at the Puget Sound Regional Council of Governments, 1011 Western Ave., downtown Seattle.
By then, 14 months will have passed since state Rep. Jim Buck, R-Joyce, requested it last February.
Buck’s 24th legislative district includes Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
Buck sought the probe after work halted on the project that would have produced huge concrete anchors and pontoons to retrofit the east end of the floating bridge.
He was joined by other members of the House Transportation Committee.
Report delayed
Originally expected in November, the report was delayed when the Transportation Performance Audit Board turned over the investigation to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee, which then hired a Green Bay, Wis., firm to conduct the inquiry.
The company, Foth and Van Dyke Associates, declined to comment on the investigation until the report is released.
When Buck called for the investigation in February 2005, $58.8 million had been spent on the Port Angeles graving yard before the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe asked that construction stop in December 2004.
Last week, the Transportation Department said that costs associated with the Port Angeles waterfront site have climbed to $86.8 million.
