All lanes of the Aurora Bridge are back open, as crews have finished repairing the damaged support beam under the southbound lanes earlier than expected.
The emergency work was started on Oct. 31, after bridge inspectors discovered a corroded support beam (also known as a stringer), which had dropped about half an inch.
Crews worked around the clock for five days to fix the stringer. First, they removed paint from the damaged area, then replaced the connecting plates and repainted the section to prevent corrosion.
“This was a complicated repair because the contractor was working with a stringer that was still holding a section of bridge deck,” Washington State Department of Transportation Assistant Regional Administrator Messay Shiferaw said in a statement about the reopening. “We needed to lift the closed part the deck with additional steel to alleviate pressure from the stringer, repair the connecting steel and bolt it all back into place while still supporting the concrete deck.”
The lanes reopened just in time for this morning’s commute. To learn more about the project, visit WSDOT’s website.
Top photo: WSDOT