Collapsed I-5 Bridge Getting Temporary Steel Spans

The collapsed I-5 bridge over the Skagit River will get two temporary steel spans while state officials plan and construct a permanent fix. The interstate highway span collapsed into the water this past week.

Governor Jay Inslee announced the plan for temporary spans on Sunday, saying that they should be built in about three weeks’ time, or around mid-June. The spans will allow for two lanes each way.

The spans will be pre-built and trucked in to Mount Vernon, where the I-5 bridge collapsed on Thursday. And while temporary spans will help ease traffic flow on the busy freeway for the time being, the state plan also calls for a permanent span to be built by autumn. Inslee added:

“We’re going to get this project done as fast as humanly possible. There are no more important issues right now to the economy of the state of Washington than getting this bridge up and running.”

Officials plan to inspect the remaining spans to make sure that they are still safe to use. Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson explained that the federal government is expected to cover 100 percent of the cost for the temporary bridge, along with 90 percent of the permanent span.

Thursday’s I-5 bridge collapse was triggered when an semi carrying an oversize load clipped a steel truss. The incident sent cars and people into the cold waters of the Skagit River. Three people survived with non-life threatening injuries. And while officials are glad no one was seriously hurt, the incident cut access to one of the most important highways in the state for trade, commuters and travel.

Crews arrived on Saturday to start carrying away the pieces of mangled steel in the Skagit River. Investigators are still looking into the exact cause of the I-5 bridge collapse. They will conduct underwater safety inspections to see if there is additional damage that cannot be seen. Once the temporary span is in place, work will begin on the more permanent solution. That stretch of I-5 handles roughly 71,000 vehicles per day.

[Image via John Lloyd]