SHINE — The Hood Canal Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic intermittently from 11 p.m. Thursday through 4 a.m. Friday, the state Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.
Department of Transportation contractors will perform preliminary work for rehabilitation of two major bridge systems this summer, according to Doug Adamson, WSDOT spokesperson.
Work on that project could require up to four complete weekend closures, with the bridge closed to vehicular traffic from Friday night to Monday, as well as some nighttime closures, he said.
It is not definite that the bridge will be closed for four weekend, Adamson emphasized; decisions had not yet been made as of Tuesday on dates of future closures for the $1.28 million project.
The two systems to be refurbished this summer are the centerlock and pyramid, which open and close the drawbridge and lock it into place, much like the deadbolt on a door.
The mechanism for those functions operate in a wet, salty and windy environment, Adamson pointed out.
“It takes quite the beating, especially during wind storms and high tides,” he said. “Things wear out.”
The last time such work was done on the bridge, which connects the Olympic Peninsula with the rest of the state on state Highway 104, was in 2009.
“This bridge is a machine. it requires a lot of effort and maintenance and construction to keep it going,” Adamson said.
“It’s something we can expect with this bridge.”
Work could be rescheduled in bad weather.
For more information, see visit www.wsdot.com/traffic/hoodcanal.
Also today, WSDOT will disable text message notifications for the Hood Canal Bridge. While emails are free, texts have an associated cost and the agency will soon reach its limit for text messages with its service provider, WSDOT said on its website at https://www.wsdot.com/traffic/hoodcanal. The same real-time and advance notifications are readily available on the WSDOT mobile app which has information.
