PORT GAMBLE – Ten circular, concrete anchors arrived at Port Gamble Bay about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday and will remain there until May when they are sunk beneath the east side of the Hood Canal Bridge.
The anchors – 27 feet tall and ranging in diameter from 46 feet to 60 feet – are the first batch of the 20 anchors that will be sunk beneath the longest saltwater floating bridge in the world, then cabled to keep its new east end in place when that is installed in about two years.
The anchors are floating now, but they will sink when they are filled with water.
“They’re just like big buckets that you put in the water,” said Greg Meadows, state Department of Transportation Hood Canal Bridge site manager.
“They’re kind of like icebergs right now.”
He added: “This is a big milestone for us, the first set of anchors.”
He was referring to the first material of the replacement project to show up in placed.
The anchors will be sunk in May, but the replacement of the east side of the bridge won’t be done until May 2009.
During the construction in 2009, the bridge is expected to be closed for six weeks.
A temporary state ferry will be permit passenger crossing of the Hood Canal while the project is under way.
At the time the 10 anchors arrived Tuesday, the second 10 were just beginning to be constructed, said Meadows.
They are being built at Todd Shipyards in Seattle, the same place the 10 in Port Gamble Bay were built before they began their seven-hour, 50-mile journey by six tug boats Monday night.
Each bunch of 10 anchors costs about $12 million, with an overall bridge project budget of $471 million, said Meadows.
On Tuesday morning, crews were working to secure the anchors by tying them together so they won’t move during the three months they’ll be in Port Gamble Bay.
Each anchor weighs in excess of 1,000 tons.
Meadows said surveillance cameras are aimed at the anchors to ensure they remain undisturbed.
