State Route 104 across the Hood Canal of Puget Sound and connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas
WSDOT is re-working its repair schedule on the Hood Canal Bridge this spring and summer.
From 911 calls to a parts shortage there was a confluence of reasons to change the timeline for repairs “We had a long list of important events happening on the Olympic Peninsula that we were hoping to work around” but Tourism and Summer Recreation may have been the biggest reasons says Mark Krulish at WSDOT “We knew that any closures of the bridge were going to be impactful.”
Instead of shutting down the Hood Canal Bridge on weekends, repair work is going to take place at night, during the week between May 13th & June 21st:
The 1½ mile floating bridge, among the longest in the world, opens and closes along the surface of the water to allow boats and even submarines to pass.
“Sometimes the bridge has to open because of the weather” the weather and a mix of salt & fresh water take a toll on the span says Krulish “You know if we get high winds and strong tide, opening the bridge is what allows us to relieve the pressure because the center locks undergo a tremendous amount of pressure during storms.” A second series of repairs are set for this fall with the same footprint we’re told.