Construction firms sought to repair West Seattle Bridge

Construction to repair the West Seattle Bridge is expected to resume in November and the bridge could be reopened to traffic in mid-2022.

SEATTLE – Editor’s Note: The above video originally aired in November 2020.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has begun recruiting construction companies to strengthen the cracked West Seattle Bridge.

It is planned to reopen to traffic in mid-2022.

“Our work to reopen the bridge is on track and we have made great strides so far,” SDOT Director Sam Zimbabwe said in a statement.

The city estimates the contract value for the high bridge works at USD 58 million and for the low bridge works at USD 14 million. The winning team will write a final design and hire subcontractors before work on the concrete structure resumes in November.

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The starting gun will be fired as Seattle approaches the anniversary of the bridge’s closure. At this point, engineers concluded that cracks could lead to a breakdown if traffic continued. The damage started with tiny hairline cracks seven years earlier. The city did not perceive them as a security threat until early 2020.

In November, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced that the city would repair rather than replace the bridge.

One of the main reasons for repairing the bridge rather than replacing it is the economic recovery that relies on mobility. It has been estimated that a full replacement will take until 2026. Repairs will extend the life of the bridge by an estimated 15 to 40 years.

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