PORT ANGELES — A tight construction timeline and lengthy permitting processes are cited by the state Department of Transportation for choosing Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle — instead of state land in Port Angeles — to build concrete anchors for the new Hood Canal Bridge half.
“We had run out of time to get the permits and float the bridge by 2009,” said Transportation spokesman Lloyd Brown on Friday.
“The overarching reality is we have an aging east end of the bridge that needs replaced.
“There’s certain timelines and it’s months, not days, even on a fast track,” he said.
The Department of Transportation officially announced Friday that 20 concrete anchors for the Hood Canal Bridge project, each weighing from 1,000 to 1,400 tons, will be fabricated at Todd Shipyards by project contractor Kiewit-General.
Thick cables extending from the floating bridge are fastened to the heavy anchors on the bottom of Hood Canal to keep the bridge’s pontoons aligned.
Site preparation at the shipyard is expected to be done in September, with anchor construction beginning in October and finishing in July 2007, Brown said.
