The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has distributed information on a closure of both lanes of traffic across the George Washington Memorial (a.k.a. Aurora) Bridge on May 29th.
Crews plan to close southbound lanes at 10p, with northbound lanes to close at 11:59p, tonight. Both lanes are scheduled to reopen at 5a on Wednesday, May 30th.
Northbound drivers will be detoured off the Aurora Bridge (also SR99) at Denny Way onto Dexter Avenue and/or I-5. Southbound drivers will be detoured off at North 39th Street, onto Fremont Avenue. Residents near the bridge, particularly on the north face of Queen Anne, may experience some noise work between midnight and 5a. Free earplugs are available by contacting Jamie Holter at 206/440-4698 or holterj@wsdot.wa.gov.
This closure will signal a milestone, and another step in $5.7 million seismic retrofit of the Bridge, as crews will lift the 80-year-old structure ¾ of an inch to install new one-ton bearings. These bearings are to allow the bridge to gently sway during earthquake activity.
Since April 2011, crews have worked under the bridge reinforcing the steel and concrete, including adding steel to the skeleton, thickening concrete girders and covering existing columns with fiber designed for shaking. The final phase of this project includes these new bearings and installation of a new expansion joint. The purpose of the seismic retrofit program is to minimize and avoid catastrophic bridge failures by strengthening bridges and structures.
Work under the north end of the bridge, near the Fremont Troll, is nearly complete. Work under the south end is on schedule to be done by August. Work on the bridge deck itself takes place this week and again in late June and July as crews replace the bearings, lower the bridge into place and then replace the thick metal expansion joint that runs across all six lanes of traffic. The project is scheduled to be complete by October 2012.