Less than two weeks after an oversized load seriously damaged the portion of Chamber Way over Southbound Interstate 5, the overpass reopened for traffic Thursday afternoon
Washington State Department of Transportation staff estimated earlier this week that the temporary steel structure could be ready for traffic this weekend.
“A lot of things were able to line up” to allow contractors to finish the project earlier than planned, said Bart Treece, of the WSDOT Southwest Region Communications Office.
Treece thanked area businesses and travelers for being patient during the delays.
“We had a really good contractor and subcontractor that did fantastic work,” he said.
WSDOT Assistant Secretary Keith Metcalf, Regional Administrator Kris Strickler and Schuyler Hoss, from the Governor’s Office, met with community members Friday morning for coffee and snacks to thank them for being patient and supportive in the past two weeks.
At about 11:45 a.m. on July 22, an oversize load of two excavators towed by a southbound 2005 Freightliner semi truck hit the underside of the overpass, scraping baseball-sized chunks of concrete onto two passing cars, according to the Washington State Patrol. All six girders supporting the bridge deck were damaged, most beyond repair.
The driver of the semi, identified by the WSP as Henry Abadia, 35, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was cited for having a load that was too tall. The crash was caused by inattention, according to the WSP.
WSDOT staff immediately closed the bridge to traffic, but determined it was structurally able to support its own weight.
The bridge has been hit by oversize loads nine times in the past 10 years.
WSDOT engineers determined the safest route was to take down the damaged span, and did so in one night on July 26.
By the end of last week, crews working under an emergency contract had already begun constructing a temporary structure to replace the damaged span. The temporary steel bridge is made by the Acrow Corp., which has offices in Centralia.
In a declaration of an emergency, Gov. Jay Inslee noted the project was expected to cost as much as $6 million.
The temporary bridge went into place Monday night. Since then crews were working to connect guard rails and pour a new road surface.
Any load that’s legal on I-5 without a permit can travel across the new bridge. However, no oversized loads will be allowed to cross the temporary steel bridge.
Now that the short-term problems of safety and transit over I-5 at Chamber Way are solved, WSDOT plans to begin considering long-term solutions for the busy intersection.
The state Legislature has set aside $75 million to redo the Chamber Way Overpass and accompanying on- and off-ramps in preparation for the future addition of two lanes to I-5. Funding for the design on the project isn’t authorized until 2019, with construction scheduled to take place between 2021 and 2023.
While the WSDOT doesn’t have the authority to move up funding for the project, Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, has said that he’s working with legislators to build support for possibly moving the funding up for a complete redo of the intersection.
