New I-5 overpass slips during work

  • Bill Sheets<br>For the Enterprise
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 6:48am

LYNNWOOD — A span being placed over I-5 at Ash Way in south Snohomish County slipped several inches back onto its support blocks when hydraulic jacks lifting the span failed recently, according to the state Department of Transportation.

No injuries occurred in the incident, which took place at about 4 a.m. May 11, department spokeswoman Jamie Holter said May 18.

Engineers for the state and Mowat Construction Co. inspected the situation and “determined it was safe,” Holter said. “The safety was never a concern.” No debris fell onto the freeway, he added.

The freeway was closed for the work, and it was reopened on schedule.

The $18.4 million direct-access ramp will allow buses and carpools to exit and enter I-5 directly from the Ash Way park-and-ride lot. The incident is expected to delay the project about a week, but will not add to the cost, Holter said. Completion is scheduled for October.

The mishap was not announced because there were no injuries, and it will not affect the project, Holter said. But state Transportation Secretary Doug McDonald wanted it publicized in the interest of public disclosure, he said.

Fourteen jacks were used in the attempt to lift the 1.1 million-pound concrete span off its temporary supports so crews could remove scaffolding and lower the bridge onto its permanent supports.

The mishap is the second snafu with the project. It was delayed last year when sensors designed to alert trucks on I-5 to exit to avoid the bridge work failed, forcing the state into a second round of bidding. Its completion date is a year later than originally planned.

Sound Transit sales tax revenues are paying for the ramp. The project will be $3.2 million over the original estimate, but will stay within budget because of an emergency reserve, officials have said.

A similar ramp opened just to the south on I-5 at the Lynnwood Transit Center in November.

Bill Sheets is a reporter for the Herald in Everett.

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