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Annual county bridge report outlines needs
The report details an ambitious era of bridge construction. Over the past decade, the county made major improvements to a number of spans including the Elliott, Novelty, Preston, York, Cedar Mountain, Northeast 124th Street, and Duvall bridges. Currently, the county is replacing Mt. Si, Tolt and Wagners bridges in East King County. Those projects will be finished in 2008. As a result, the county has seen the average sufficiency rating of its bridges climb from 64.1 to 68.3 on a scale of 100 over the past five years. The federal government uses the 0-100 sufficiency scale to rate bridges on structural adequacy, serviceability, and essentiality for public use.
The 76-year-old
South Park Bridge, one of two county steel deck truss bridges,
remains a concern. A recent inspection found that while it is safe, the
South Park Bridge is reaching the end of its useful life and the
sufficiency rating was only 4 on the 0-100 scale. Engineers say close
monitoring should continue, but that the bridge needs to be replaced or
torn down by the end of this decade. Replacement is estimated at $150
million, $110 of which is included in a fall ballot measure.
Sims’ 2007 budget, which emphasized the importance of investing in
infrastructure, included acceleration of an aggressive
Short Span Bridge Program aimed at replacing 57 bridges that are
less than 20-feet long. County engineers are aiming to replace 24 of the
county’s short span bridges over the next six years at a cost of $17
million. |
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King County Department of
Transportation See How to contact us Updated: August 27, 2007 |
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