ABERDEEN — The state Transportation Department has laid off bridge tenders who were responsible for opening five drawbridges in Aberdeen and Hoquiam.
The department says it will rely on a maintenance crew on call to operate bridges.
The Aberdeen Daily World reports 24-hour bridge tenders are unneeded because of a decline in vessel traffic as Weyerhaeuser has curtailed operations in Grays Harbor. Five full-time and three temporary employees have been laid off. One has been rehired as a secretary.
Transportation Department spokesman Joe Irwin says the money saved from the bridge tenders is being used to hire two new bridge maintenance crew members.
Information from: The Daily World, www.thedailyworld.com
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