SEQUIM — Five of the 12 steel truss sections have arrived for a $1.53 million replacement of the Railroad Bridge trestle damaged in February flooding.
The sections had arrived as of Friday, said Randy Johnson, habitat program manager for the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, which owns the bridge property at Railroad Bridge Park 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.
Johnson said the project, which started when the trestle was damaged by a February storm that flooded the Dungeness River, is still on track to allow reopening the span in December.
The old trestle, which is on the west side of the Howe railroad bridge, was propped up by 38 sets of five creosote-coated poles.
Contractors recently finished removing the old creosote-covered poles, a task which began in August.
The new steel structure, said Johnson, will rest on four piers.
Steel pilings for the new piers are being driven into the ground and the first one, nearest the river, was completed last week, he said.
A concrete column was poured Friday and will sit atop the piling.
Seismic bearings which will cap the concrete columns are scheduled for delivery in early November.
The bearings are designed to isolate the bridge structure from the columns so that any ground movement is not transmitted to the bridge structure.
With the seismic bearings in place, the bridge sections will be bolted together.
A three-inch-thick cement deck will be poured on top of each section before the bridge is opened to the public, Johnson said.
The smooth cement deck should be ideal for pedestrians, cyclists and skaters, he said.
The new design also improves passage for salmon, he added.
The replacement trestle structure will allow logs and fish to pass beneath with fewer obstructions as the Dungeness River’s path moves seasonally.
The steel sections are manufactured by Wheeler Lumber LLC, a Minnesota firm that specializes in metal, fiberglass and timber prefabricated bridges, and transported to Sequim on flatbed trucks.
They will be installed by Nordland Construction, contractors for the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe.
Funding for the replacement project came from a state Recreation and Conservation Office Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant.
Several other sources of funding also will be used, including tribal insurance coverage payments, tribal transportation funding, a Bureau of Indian Affairs grant, a state Floodplains by Design grant and a contribution from the Peninsula Trails Coalition.
Additionally, a First Federal Community Foundation grant of $100,000 will be used to re-deck the Howe truss bridge portion of the crossing.
When the trestle was damaged last February, engineers assessed the older wooden structure. The tribe elected to replace, not fix, the trestle section.
The design and engineering work was funded by a $172,000 grant from the state Salmon Recovery Fund Board.
Johnson said the final structure should be an “exceptionally fine bridge,” useful for both people and fish.
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Reporter Mark Swanson can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5054, or mswanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
