Details. Eight people were onboard and safely made it to shore in a dinghy. The Washington state ferry system shall be efficiently managed, operated, and maintained as a revenue-producing undertaking. The survey was in three stages: A video camera count of traffic on weekdays (Tuesday and Wednesday) and a weekend (Friday through Sunday) to estimate average volume; the use of that video to record license plate numbers for vehicle registration addresses to assess which communities would be most affected; and the mailing of a questionnaire to the registered owners of those vehicles seeking information on trip origin, destination, and purpose, and choice of travel alternatives during a bridge closure. Fished 11/07/2009. What is the state’s plan to protect incarcerated people from Covid-19? Accounts say that passenger cars and a semi-truck barely made it off before the bridge broke apart and sank. It was decided to use a large rubber dam between each of the two pontoons as they were attached, clean the concrete surfaces of all marine growth, epoxy, and tension them with a number of cables welded to a variety of attachment points. Despite a lot of anxiety about the closure, others also recall the 1979 sinking of the Hood Canal Floating Bridge, which left the area isolated for three years before the new bridge opened. Eight people aboard the vessel Silver Lining, which began to … Before purchase, the National Historic Preservation Act required archaeologists to perform a review of the historical site. Then, somebody had a brainstorm: hook up tugboats to the new bridge to keep it from blowing away. KUOW is the Puget Sound region’s #1 radio station for news. At the time of the failure, the bridge had been closed to highway traffic and the tower crew had evacuated; no casualties resulted. On Tuesday, February 13, 1979, about 7 a.m., the western half of the Hood Canal Bridge sinks during a severe storm. The bridge reopened as a toll bridge, but tolls were lifted in 1985 after a court ruled that the insurance settlement constituted repayment of the construction bonds, and since federal funds were used in reconstructing the bridge, the Washington State Department of Transportation could not charge tolls after the bonds were retired. There it goes!”. The cables help to stabilize the bridge. The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge located in the U.S. state of Washington that carries Washington State Route 104 across Hood Canal and connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. First opened 59 years ago in 1961, it was the seco… Have an emergency kit in your vehicle and be aware of forecasts. The convenience it provides has had a major impact on economic development, especially in eastern Jefferson County.[3]. Then, over Thanksgiving weekend, as often happens, a big storm blew in to Western Washington. However, long established law requires the Hood Canal Bridge and others like it (Title 33, Part 177 Draw Bridge Operations) to give marine traffic the right-of-way over vehicular traffic. Monday traffic was a mess. As in Washington, Norway has its share of water near population centers. Meanwhile, passenger cars whizzed by on the adjacent new bridge. During the course of the closure an additional ferry route was temporarily added between Edmonds and Port Townsend. The design and planning process for the Hood Canal Bridge took nearly a decade amid criticism from some engineers throughout that time. 65-foot boat started sinking 1.3 miles SW of the Hood Canal Bridge. Outfitting includes adding all electrical and mechanical parts, connecting the pontoons into sections and building the roadway on top of the pontoons. — The U.S. Coast Guard Seattle is at the scene of a 65-foot boat taking on water near the Hood Canal Bridge. Close fly bys are challenging because it’s more difficult to spot the subject, and their speed is relatively faster compared to a more distant subject, therefore requiring faster panning and tracking. Remember the Mercer Island floating bridge going under in 1990, or the sinking of the Hood Canal floating bridge in 1979? West-half reconstruction and 1982 re-opening, Associated Press. A similar floating bridge was built across Lake Washington in 1940 to carry traffic on old US Highway 10, which later became known as Interstate 90. Like the Hood Canal Bridge 11 years earlier, it had broken apart and sunk. Video of the Sinking of the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge. Like its Washington cousins, this bridge has suffered its share of problems: deterioration due to lack of maintenance, ship collisions and the sinking of sections due to heavy tides. I found a brief video on the state DOT site, which is definitely worth the 15 seconds or so it takes to watch it. It was renamed the Lacey V. Morrow bridge in 1967. Get a quick look at the most important local stories of the day with KUOW's Today So Far newsletter. Who is going to work on Washington farms during the pandemic. During the night, the bridge had withstood sustained winds of up to 85 mph (137 km/h) and gusts estimated at 120 mph (190 km/h), and finally succumbed at about 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 13. Like the Hood Canal Bridge 11 years earlier, it had broken apart and sunk. The Hood Canal Bridge re-opened to vehicular traffic in 1982 on Sunday, October 24. Help guide our reporting by submitting a topic, question, or one of your stories to our team. But when the old bridge sank it severed anchor cables on the new bridge. The vehicle registration information indicated that a majority of trips were by residents of communities near the bridge. It does, particularly because only 11 years ago another regionally famous floating bridge broke up and sank in heavy weather. Are climatologists studying the pandemic’s effect on Puget Sound? Our independent, nonprofit newsroom produces award-winning stories, podcasts and events. Photo courtesy Washington State Department of Transportation. The pontoons for the bridge were fabricated in the Duwamish Waterway in Seattle; during fabrication, two of the pontoons sank. WSDOT stopped all work on the site, and a government-to-government consultation process began among the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, WSDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the State Historical Preservation Office. Tides All Tide Points High Tides Low Tides. Jump to Date Confirm Graph Plots Open in Graphs. The Washington toll bridge authority is authorized to issue revenue bonds to refund all or any part of the authority's outstanding 1955 Washington state ferry system refunding revenue bonds and 1957 ferry and Hood Canal bridge revenue bonds. By Sunday, the news from Lake Washington was bad. The tugboats remained on this unusual duty, holding the pontoons in place, until the anchor cables could be replaced and the new bridge made safe once again. At that time, "there was no evidence of historic properties or cultural resources" (NEPA Re-evaluation Consultation, FHWA) and WSDOT was able to purchase the site and begin construction. The original bridge closed in 1989; with the current bridge … On December 21, 2004, Governor Locke and Secretary MacDonald announced that WSDOT would stop pontoon and anchor construction at the Tse-whit-zen site in Port Angeles and begin searching for a more suitable place to build. Seattle radio station KIRO won the industry’s most prestigious broadcast journalism award for their coverage of the sinking of the Lacey V. Murrow Bridge. It is believed that this discovery may be documentation of the first time that Natives and non-Natives began to interact on this shore[citation needed]. The boat has 300 gallons of diesel and 12 gallons of oil on board. But worst of all, the winds of November were still blowing, and the new bridge was in serious danger. Then, over Thanksgiving weekend, as often happens, a big storm blew in to Western Washington. 65-foot boat sinking near Hood Canal Bridge (KOMO video) Eventually it became too dangerous to stay on board and the eight people evacuated to a dinghy and row to shore. The total cost of the project, about $471 million, was paid for by state, federal and agency funds. The two grew up together in Skagit County. Tens of thousands of commuters were forced to find other ways to get to work. And then, in February 1979, there was another big blow in Washington state, along with a lot of waves. The anchor cables on the new bridge were broken, and it wasn’t safe. A new matching span had been built alongside and was already carrying cars across the lake, so the old bridge was closed to traffic for the renovation project. The eastern approach span weighs more than 3,800 tons (3,400 tonnes) and the western approach span weighs more than 1,000 tons (907 tonnes). The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge located in the U.S. state of Washington that carries Washington State Route 104 across Hood Canal and connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge in the northwest United States, located in western Washington. It carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal of Puget Sound and connects the Olympic and KitsapPeninsulas. [3] In its marine environment, the bridge is exposed to tidal swings of 16.5 feet (5 m).[5]. Steel girders buckle and giant cables snap like puny threads. Hood Canal area of the Puget Sound in Washington state It was an exciting experience when this eagle flew past me in close proximity. It withdraws part of the bridge into itself, underneath the other layer. He was also brother of famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. The project required the bridge to close to traffic for five weeks to allow the old pontoons of the east-half to be cut away and the new pontoons floated into position, cabled together and connected by cables to large anchors on the sea floor. The video count produced a weekday average of 14,915 trips/day and a weekend average of 18,759 trips/day. Within the first two weeks of construction, artifacts were found from an ancestral burial ground from an ancient village called Tse-whit-zen. In a project that lasted from 2003 to 2009, WSDOT replaced the east-half floating portion of the bridge, the east and west approach spans, the east and west transition spans, and the west-half electrical system. The Hood Canal Bridge suffered catastrophic failure in 1979 during the February 13 windstorm. The Murrow Bridge was on the bottom of Lake Washington. Many sites were considered but the best option to be found by WSDOT was in Tacoma, Wash. at Concrete Technology. In a rather unique fashion, the Hood Canal bridge does neither. The transition spans and center draw span were also replaced during this closure. Here in the Evergreen State, there’s something peculiar about bridges and windstorms. A large number of eastbound weekday morning trips appeared to be for commuting purposes, with 92% of originating in Port Ludlow, Port Townsend, Sequim, or Port Angeles, and 60% with central or northern Kitsap County as a destination, and 32% ending in the Seattle metropolitan area. An investigation into the sinking found that the pontoons had been exposed to water from the renovation process and from the rain and waves of the windstorm. The hollow pontoons filled with water and sank. The third-longest is the Hood Canal Bridge, about thirty miles (50 km) to the northwest. When the plaque was presented, nobody seemed to notice that the award KIRO had won was named for Lacey’s famous brother Ed. WSDOT evaluated different sites at which to build during a site selection process. When they work, a floating bridge is an engineering marvel. In November 1990, the Lacey V. Murrow Bridge was 50 years old, and it was being refurbished. Make sure you have the WSDOT mobile app and check our winter driving webpage. The bridge was named for Lacey V. Murrow, longtime director of the Washington State Highway Department. The evening westbound trips seemed to mirror the morning patterns. JUST IN: A 65-foot recreational boat is sinking 1.3 miles SW of the Hood Canal Bridge. Bad design doomed that span from the start and earned the bridge an appropriate nickname. In planning for a prolonged closure of the bridge for the east-half replacement, the Washington State Department of Transportation conducted a five-day survey of bridge use in early June 1998 in order to assess closure impact and plan effective mitigation strategies. Additional information about the Hood Canal Bridge is located on the Common Questions web page. "Settlement reached in Indian burial site", Learn how and when to remove this template message, "William Adair Bugge assumes duties as Director of Highways on July 1, 1949", "Hood Canal Bridge opens on August 12, 1961", "William A. Bugge Bridge: Replacement Plan for the East-Half Floating Portion", "Hood Canal Bridge sinks during a severe storm on Tuesday, February 13, 1979", "Hood Canal Bridge reopens awash in traffic", "Project - SR 104 - Hood Canal Bridge Project", "SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge open again - eight days early", http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/breaking_news/15274953.htm, The Washington State Department of Transportation, Tacoma Narrows Bridge ("Galloping Gertie"), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hood_Canal_Bridge&oldid=990696501, Transportation buildings and structures in Kitsap County, Washington, Transportation buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Washington, Transportation disasters in Washington (state), Former toll bridges in Washington (state), Articles with dead external links from March 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2016, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2007, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 November 2020, at 00:24. A semi-truck driver cited for traveling too fast for conditions was blamed Tuesday morning for a wreck that shut down the Hood Canal Bridge for nearly two hours and sent a woman to the hospital. Peak volumes reach 20,000 vehicles on summer weekends[citation needed]. The pontoons are bolted together and then tethered with heavy cables to giant concrete anchors on the lake bottom. Construction began on the new east-half floating pontoons at Concrete Technology in April 2006. For weekday trips 33% were for work, 17% for personal, 14% for business, 11% for medical, 9% for social, and 8% for recreational reasons. The state's department of transportation attempted to mitigate the impact of the disaster by redirecting traffic to US Highway 101 to drive around the 50-mile (80 km) length of Hood Canal and by reestablishing the state ferry run between Lofall and South Point across the canal just south of the bridge. 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