SHINE — The Hood Canal Bridge has been closed to marine traffic since the draw span slammed shut on Monday.
The bridge remains open to vehicular traffic.
“We will continue to diagnose the mechanical problem on the draw span and after we find a fix, we will reopen it to marine traffic,” said state Department of Transportation spokesman Jamie Swift, early this afternoon.
The bridge had a new draw span drive system installed on its east half in May and June.
During a routine opening of the bridge Monday afternoon, the draw span moved back into the closed position quicker than it should have, causing superficial damage to the bridge, Swift said.
Transportation engineers say the routine opening has been performed several dozen times over the last few months.
“We need to keep the bridge closed to marine traffic until we diagnose why the motors accelerated,” said Jeff Cook, Hood Canal Bridge project engineer.
“We expect to have a better understanding of what happened later today.”
Three months ago, following the east half replacement and before the bridge reopened to traffic, state Transportation and contractor Kiewit-General completed 20 consecutive error-free openings to meet operational standards.
Crews have opened the bridge for marine traffic about 120 times since reopening the bridge June 3 to traffic.
Swift said Transportation will notify the public and the news media as it learns more from the diagnostic testing.
For more information on the Hood Canal Bridge project, visit www.HoodCanalBridge.com.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
