Wash. I-5 Bridge May Reopen This Week

This story appears in the June 17 print edition of Transport Topics.

Officials in Washington state said the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River could reopen to traffic as early as this week, as crews work to install the temporary replacement of the span that collapsed May 23.

Update: Washington state officials reopened the temporary I-5 Skagit River bridge on June 19.

Separately, the National Transportation Safety Board announced that the truck driver whose oversize load is believed to have caused the collapse when it struck the bridge’s truss structure, told investigators he steered to the right shortly before impact because he felt “crowded” by another truck passing him on the bridge.

Workers moved the first of two parallel spans into place on the existing bridge June 10, at which point they started work on the second span.

“Getting to this point hasn’t been easy,” Jay Drye, the Washington State Department of Transportation’s assistant regional administrator, said in a statement. “Each step of removing and replacing the damaged bridge span has to be carefully choreographed to maximize efficiency, speed and safety.”

When the temporary bridge opens, it will have a lower speed limit than the 60 mph limit on I-5 nearby, but officials have not determined what it will be. Vehicles weighing more than 80,000 pounds will be banned from the bridge and continue to use the detour most motorists are using now.

On June 11, NTSB revealed in its preliminary report on the incident that the driver of the truck whose load it said hit the bridge moved to the right when another truck passed him.

“The driver of the oversize load reported to investigators that he felt ‘crowded’ by the passing combination vehicle so he moved his vehicle to the right,” NTSB said in its report. Witnesses to the incident confirmed what NTSB heard from the driver, who WSDOT said works for Mullen Trucking, an Aldersyde, Alberta, firm.

The report did not say whether that movement to the right caused the bridge to fall.

NTSB had announced that it was looking for the other truck driver but did not say until last week why it was interested. NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said the agency still was looking for the truck driver as of last week to interview him.

In a statement, Tammy DeTray, the pilot car driver, said that her vehicle had a pole attached several inches above the height of the oversize load. The pole did not hit the bridge, she said.

DeTray was using a hands-free device to speak on the telephone when she drove over the bridge, she noted.

Ed Scherbinski, vice president of Mullen, said that NTSB has asked the company not to speak publicly. NTSB confirmed that it asks people and companies cooperating with its investigations not to speak about them.

Meanwhile, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said at a June 13 Senate hearing she had been notified that the federal government would release emergency funding to help repair the bridge.

“I’ve seen firsthand that the local economy and small businesses and a lot of families have been seriously disrupted without this very critical artery open for travel,” Murray said.

“This is the kind of disaster we can expect to happen more often when our roads and bridges fall into disrepair,” said Murray, who called for greater infrastructure investment.

One of those testifying at the hearing was Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez, who said the bridge would be reopened by Oct. 1.

Washington officials have said the bridge carried 71,000 vehicles daily before it collapsed. The state plans to begin work on a permanent bridge as soon as it completes the temporary one.

Staff Reporter Michele Fuetsch contributed to this report.