SHINE — The test opening and closing of the Hood Canal Bridge was finished on Sunday — bringing an end to the nearly daily delays that began in October.
Washington State Department of Transportation and the contractor Kiewit-General announced the end of the tests Sunday morning.
“The residents of the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas have been nothing short of amazing during this project,” said Kevin Dayton, WSDOT region administrator.
“Their patience and understanding is deeply appreciated by WSDOT.
“We’d like to thank everyone who uses the bridge for staying positive through the project and keeping the goal of a wider, safer, more reliable bridge in sight.”
The bridge will still open for marine vessels and during bad weather.
Those closures will be unscheduled.
The tests were to confirm the bridge was opening and closing correctly.
After the floating bridge’s east-half replacement project was completed ahead of schedule in early June, travelers over the bridge experienced months of scheduled daytime delays.
Traffic was stopped for 40 minutes or more each time to permit tests of the ballast in retrofitted west-half draw-span pontoons.
In addition, drivers encountered unscheduled nighttime closures.
The hydraulic, mechanical and electrical systems on the west half were then retrofitted to match those on the new east pontoons.
Retrofit work, which included ballast testing and bridge-wide system updates, culminated in functional and draw-span tests that put the entire project within arm’s reach of completion.
“A handful of minor work items remain, but for drivers who rely on the bridge daily, the project as they have known it for the past several months is pretty much over,” Dayton said.
Scheduled closures will resume in May for about three weeks while the bridge undergoes federally required inspections.
The inspections will review all of the systems of the bridge and are standard for moving bridges in Washington, the state Department of Transportation said.
The closures will be during both the day and night.
