By Roger Thompson

We’re gearing up for the fourth weekend full closure of the SR 520 bridge this month. Wait. What? Another closure?

The main reason streets or highways are closed to traffic for construction is so crews can get the work done more quickly, more efficiently, and more safely with fewer disruptions to motorists. Sometimes crews can perform their work by closing just part of a road. Other times, it’s necessary to shut down a highway entirely – again, to get the work done more quickly, efficiently, and safely.

In other words, get in and get out!

Another reason is to take advantage of the longer daylight and good weather we often have in Western Washington during the summer. It’s great for backyard barbecues – but it’s also great for getting a lot of outdoor construction done. Especially when it involves pouring concrete or placing asphalt. And there’s a whole lot of that going on with the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program.

During June’s four weekend closures of SR 520, crews are pouring some 2,000 cubic yards of concrete to build the roadway deck for the new West Connection Bridge on Lake Washington (it will connect the new floating bridge with the highway’s existing lanes in Seattle). Other crews, working around the clock during the four closures, are placing asphalt for the new, six-lane highway being built on SR 520 between Evergreen Point Road and I-405.

Crews use a closed SR 520 highway and a barge as work platforms to pump concrete for the roadway deck of SR 520’s new West Connection Bridge.

Another reason for having four weekend highway closures in a five-week span is the pressing nature of the SR 520 construction schedule. Urgency is driving our weekend closures for the highway’s  Eastside Transit and HOV Project. Our contractor crews are in the home stretch of completing the Eastside’s improvements, including new transit stops in the highway’s median, lidded overpasses, roundabout interchanges, direct-access ramps for buses and carpools, and a dedicated transit/carpool lane in both directions. All this work is critical to opening the improved Eastside segment of SR 520 later this summer.

A paving crew places asphalt on the highway’s new six-lane Eastside corridor.

Crews also are working to complete the West Connection Bridge in a couple of months so that other crews can move forward with the next phase of building the new floating bridge: anchoring into position and joining together the bridge’s massive concrete pontoons, building the roadway deck, then, in early 2016, connecting it to the fixed-bridge structures on either side of Lake Washington and opening the new road to traffic.

Did we need to schedule four full-weekend closures in such a short time frame? Unfortunately, yes. The fact is there is never a good time to shut down a highway. But summer, as noted earlier, is when certain highway work can best be done. With so many community festivals, sporting events and other popular weekend happenings in the greater Seattle area, the number of “available” weekends for highway closures gets whittled down pretty fast.

More SR 520 closures will be needed this summer as we proceed with all this construction. Check our SR 520 Highway Closures page for the latest in closure information.

by guest blogger Steve Peer

Crews install a section of culvert during another fish-friendly project.  Our culvert is similar…but twice as large!

Throughout the Puget Sound region, many culverts and drainage systems inhibit fish access to area waterways. Over the years, we have been working to replace the antiquated systems with new fish-friendly ones.  Panther Creek, which flows under SR 167 in Renton, is next to undergo an upgrade. To accomplish the work, we’ll completely close down a section of freeway for an entire weekend.  Crews will dig a 65-foot wide and 35-foot deep trench for the new culvert. Crews will then install a 19-foot wide pipe that will make passing through the culvert easier for fish and other aquatic wildlife. In addition to providing fish access, the project will lay the groundwork for future SR 167 improvements and help reduce seasonal flooding to properties west of SR 167.
                                                           
Although there never a good time to close a busy highway, we chose this weekend in August to make the most of the dry, warm weather, and light summer traffic.
                                                                                                     
Closure Details
For 58 hours, spanning from 7:30 p.m. on Friday, August 10 to 5 a.m. on Monday, August 13, we’ll close SR 167 between I-405 and the S. 180th Street/SW 43rd Street exit to the IKEA district.

What should you do?

• Know Before You Go: check our website, call 511 for real-time travel information and plan for delays and added travel time.
• Delay discretionary trips, especially during high traffic periods, such as between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. 
• Anticipate heavy congestion on alternate routes such as I-405, I-5 and SR 181. 
• Expect increased congestion on local streets, especially on Lind Avenue, South 180th Street, South Grady Way, Rainier Avenue South, Talbot Road, and SR 181/West Valley Highway.  
• Carpool and use transit. Here are some links to help you plan your trip: 
• King County Metro 
• Sound Transit 
• RideshareOnline.com 
• Google trip planner

The SR 167 closure isn’t the only large project shutting down a highway during the weekend.  Crews in Bellevue will also install a fish-friendly culvert resulting in a 55 hour weekend closure of SR 520.  For the latest on the regional closures, please check out our What’s Happening Now page.

by guest blogger Steve Peer

As part of the I-405 Bellevue Braids Project crews are removing the old NE 12th Street Bridge to replace it with a new bridge.  The new bridge will be longer and wider and accommodate new ramps traveling to SR 520 and I-405. 

A Construction worker pulls out wood from the inside of the NE 12th Street bridge.  The wood was originally used to form the old structure and hasn’t seen the light of day since 1970.  We’re recycling 100% of the bridge, so we’re separating materials:   wood, rebar and concrete are all being recycled locally.

Crews will use heavy equipment to crunch the old NE 12th Street Bridge down and the countdown begins.  On April 1 we’ll close all lanes of I-405 through downtown Bellevue to safely remove the bridge that’s spanned I-405 since 1970.

Here are some numbers for you to crunch:

300, 54, 14

• Located just south of I-405/SR 520 interchange the old NE 12th Street Bridge runs about 300 feet long and 54 feet wide and is just 14 feet above I-405.

384, 96, 16 

• The new bridge will be 384 feet long, 96 feet wide and 16 1/2 feet above I-405.  The wider bridge will have a bicycle and pedestrian lane separated from traffic. 

2 Statues of Liberty

• The total weight of debris being moved from the old bridge is equivalent to the weight of 2 Statue of Liberties. 

21 Boeing 747s

• Nearly 8 million pounds (4000 tons) of concrete will be crunched into smaller chunks and hauled away—about the weight of 21 Boeing 747s.

1 blue whale

• 450,000 pounds (225 tons) of rebar will be extracted. This is equivalent to the weight of an adult blue whale.

675 tons of sand

• 1.3 million pounds (675 tons) of sand will be placed on the roadway - acting as a buffer to protect the roadway from falling debris from the bridge. 

20

• Crews will use about 20 pieces of equipment to remove the old bridge including:
• 2 huge excavators with special attachments (crunchers)
• 2 smaller machines with breakers or “bucket”
• 2 loaders
• 8 Big (30 ton capacity) trucks will continuously remove debris and recycle it locally

The final number may be the most important.

53 hours
No Fooling - beginning Friday, April 1 at 11pm we’ll close I-405 completely  in both directions for 53 hours. 

You won’t be able travel I-405 through downtown Bellevue for the remainder of the weekend until Monday at 4 am, but there are detours in place.

by guest blogger Steve Peer EAVB_EYUFDCOVPP

Update, Monday, June 28:
The shift happened in Renton over the weekend.
Crews put the finishing touches on the new Benson Road S Bridge last weekend and early Sunday morning vehicles were using the new bridge to get across I-405.  Now that traffic has shifted to the new bridge crews will begin to take apart the old one to properly recycle it. For details, read below and stay tuned for bridge removal photos.  

Original post:
Right now the old Benson Road S. Bridge stands next to its replacement spanning across I-405 in Renton. It’s a fully operational bridge that carries more than 15,000 vehicles a day. This weekend, we’ll close the old bridge. 

The work is the beginning of the end for the old bridge.

Benson Bridge

If the weather holds, we’ll shift traffic onto the newly built bridge early Sunday morning and crews will begin taking apart the old I-405 crossing.  Like most structures, the old bridge was framed using wood before it was incased in cement. Before crews can tear down the old to welcome the new, they have to drill through the concrete, forming holes large enough for a person to slide into to remove the old wood. Picture that—large holes all over the bridge—yes, Swiss cheese. Why the “Swiss cheese”?  The wood needs to come out of the concrete so we can properly recycle both materials. Imagine the size of the recycling bins.

This work kicks-off the countdown to tearing down the old Benson Road Bridge. For the weekend of July 10th, all I-405 lanes through Renton will close for 33 hours. Be prepared to avoid the curve with detours.

Details of this weekend’s road closure: Crews will close a stretch of Benson Road South from Renton City Hall to Eagle Ridge Drive June 26 at 6 am.  Drivers will use Puget Drive/Talbot Road/Grady Way S. to detour around the construction zone. We’ll re-open the road at 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

For more details check out our What’s Happening In Renton page.