Final period of repairs to West Seattle Bridge start off this month expect to see crews
November 11, 2021Wide angle photographs from beneath an overpass of the West Seattle Bridge in Washington condition, Usa. The bridge is shut for the foreseeable future owing to cracks in the composition, producing it unsafe for motor vehicle visitors.
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The final section of repairs to the West Seattle Bridge will get started this thirty day period, and the Seattle Department of Transportation claims citizens can assume to see building crews on the bridge in the coming days.
The get the job done is intended to increase unexpected emergency stabilization repairs created to the bridge previous calendar year after the office discovered fast developing cracks alongside the major span. The bridge has been closed because March of 2020.
The division made a amount of repairs to be certain the bridge did not collapse.
Crews stuffed the cracks with epoxy, which functions like a glue that will hold the cracks from increasing. They then wrapped the cracked places with carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, which aids keep the bridge alongside one another by means of sheer power the exact same way a forged holds a broken bone in location during the healing course of action. They also mounted new steel cables within the bridge which — when tightened — make it possible for the concrete to flex, which keeps the bridge strong as cars journey on it.
That perform was finished in December of past yr. Considering the fact that then, the division has been organizing the remaining section of repair service get the job done, purchasing bridge parts and selecting the contractor that will truly make the repairs.
The remaining section of restore get the job done, which commences this month, consists of filling the cracks with far more epoxy, wrapping further sections of the bridge’s primary span with carbon-fiber-bolstered polymer and introducing a different slew of put up-tensioning metal cables. The department also designs to wrap some aspect spans with carbon-fiber-strengthened polymer throughout this phase.
The function is envisioned to be carried out some time in the center of 2022.
The moment concluded, the division expects the bridge to previous amongst 15 and 45 yrs. However, the city claims it will exchange the bridge when the time arrives, and has presently begun analyzing viable alternative choices.
The metropolis expects the restore get the job done to value about $94 million.
