PORT ANGELES — Crews will break ground on a new bridge over the Elwha River this summer to provide a safer crossing for U.S. Highway 101 once it is completed in 2021, the Port Angeles City Council heard this week.
State Department of Transportation (DOT) engineers are “just about pencils down” on designing the $32.5 million project, a DOT official said Tuesday.
“We’re preparing a construction contract right now,” said Steve Roark, DOT assistant regional administrator.
“We’re pretty stoked to get this rolling.”
The three-span concrete bridge will be built to the north of the existing bridge. The old bridge will continue to serve highway traffic during construction.
The new two-lane bridge will have a more gentle approach on the east side of the river and a wider road surface with 12-foot lanes and eight-foot shoulders on both sides.
Olympic Hot Springs Road will get a new intersection east of the bridge with better sight lines, illumination and dedicated turn lanes from the highway, Roark said.
Before construction, DOT must obtain a National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, permit and secure a highway easement deed from the federal government.
“We’ll go to construction once we have a letter of consent from the Department of Interior and Olympic National Park,” Roark told the City Council and dozens of citizens who attended the special meeting.
“Our plan is to be under contact this summer.”
DOT is required by statute to award a construction contract to the lowest responsible bidder.
Construction is scheduled to take 18 to 24 months, after which time traffic will be shifted onto the new bridge.
“We have to sink 10-foot diameter shafts down about 60 feet into the river bed to make this bridge meet seismic standards,” Roark said.
Built in 1926, the existing bridge was undercut by changes to the Elwha River after removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams from 2011 to 2014. The river scoured its channel after dam removal, exposing the footings of the bridge piers.
DOT secured the bridge from further erosion by placing nearly 5,000 tons of boulders around the piers.
“It’s still safe,” Roark said. “The bridge is stable, and we’re keeping it stable through some of the emergency efforts we’ve done.”
The 388-foot-long old bridge is being monitored with tilt meters, crack meters and visual checks.
“We have a lot of data collection going on out there,” Roark said of the real time measurements.
“So we’re watching it, and our maintenance folks are out there on a regular basis, and we have, as you’re all aware, regular bridge inspections.”
The next bridge inspection is scheduled for Feb. 19. Drivers can expect one-way, alternating traffic at the Elwha Bridge during that morning.
State Reps. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles and Steve Tharinger, D-Port Townsend and state Sen. Kevin Van de Wege, D-Sequim, helped secure state funding for the new Elwha River bridge in the 2018 legislative session.
The new span will be 502-feet long and 40-feet wide. It will have room for Clallam Transit bus stops and a parking area for river access.
When asked if the new bridge would withstand further scouring from the Elwha River, Roark said the piers would be sunk deep into bedrock.
“This river is going to move around,” Roark said.
“The river will be lower, but we’re very confident we’re building a bridge that will not scour.”
Roark and other DOT officials were scheduled to deliver similar updates on the Elwha River bridge project to West End officials and the Forks Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
DOT has a dedicated web page for the Elwha River bridge project at www.ElwhaRiverBridge.com.
Meanwhile, Roark announced that DOT will replace three fish culverts on U.S. Highway 101 in West Jefferson County and North Grays Harbor County under one contract this summer.
Motorists can expect one-way alternating traffic while the Steamboat, Fisher and Harlow Creek culverts are replaced with larger fish passages.
“There’s a lot of fish barriers on the Peninsula, so this is going to be a recurring theme year after year in Jefferson and Clallam and other counties,” Roark said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
