The aging eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge must last an additional year, state transportation officials confirmed Tuesday.
The long-discussed replacement of the span will now be done in May 2007 because of delays in starting the Port Angeles graving yard in which the floating components will be built.
The delay was announced after state, federal and Lower Elwha Klallam tribal members signed a formal agreement Tuesday afternoon that will lead to restarting construction at the state Department of Transportation’s graving yard in August.
The graving yard — a huge concrete dry dock — was originally scheduled to be completed early this year to allow for bridge replacement in spring 2006.
But it was shut down just three weeks into construction last August when Native American remains and artifacts were discovered on the site, which once hosted a Klallam waterfront village.
So the year’s delay in constructing the graving yard will lead to a year’s delay in replacing the Hood Canal Bridge’s eastern half.
“We are unhappy that the project will be delayed, but not everything in this life comes out as you expect or plan,” state Transportation Secretary Doug MacDonald told Peninsula Daily News Tuesday night.
