Truck crash shuts down Hood Canal Bridge

When it will come to backups at the Hood Canal Bridge, ain’t almost nothing like the authentic thing.

A Coca-Cola semi-trailer truck jackknifed on the Highway 104 span just immediately after 3 p.m. Friday, shutting down the bridge in both directions for additional than seven hours.

Lengthy lines of motorists fashioned on the two sides of the Hood Canal. An early estimate of a reopening at 6 p.m. Feb. 3 was swiftly replaced by warnings from the Washington Department of Transportation that the bridge was shut “until further more notice.”

The shutdown brought about ripple results throughout the location.

Ian Sterling of Washington Point out Ferries stated a variety of ferry crew customers on both equally sides of the drinking water couldn’t report to operate thanks to the closure.

Ferry company was shut down in between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island. The 8:30 p.m. sailing Friday from Port Townsend and the 9:10 p.m. departure from Coupeville ended up known as off.

In addition to the Port Townsend-Coupeville ferry operate, cancellations ended up also made on the Edmonds-Kingston route during the bridge closure.

That still left just one particular way off of the Olympic Peninsula Friday: US Freeway 101 south.

The semi-trailer truck that crashed on the Hood Canal Bridge struck the concrete barrier on one particular facet of the span. 

According to the Division of Transportation, a area of the barrier was displaced together with the guardrail, and there was also some harm to the bridge deck alone towards the edge in which the barrier sits.

Mark Krulish, a Division of Transportation spokesman, reported there was no indication that any items of the bridge had been knocked into Hood Canal.

“We had issues about a fuel spill as the truck’s gasoline tank experienced been punctured, but our crews have been ready to simply just pump the gas out ahead of it was towed,” Krulish stated in an e mail to The Leader.

The location was buffeted by substantial winds Friday, which might have been a variable in the crash, according to Trooper Katherine Weatherwax of the Washington Condition Patrol.

Weatherwax mentioned the wreck was still underneath investigation.

No injuries were being noted.

The backup on equally sides stretched for miles, and several motorists just gave up and turned close to on the freeway alternatively of waiting for the bridge to reopen.

Eventually, two vehicles with condition transportation crews from Shelton arrived at the bridge all around 8 p.m. Friday one particular loaded with an excavator, yet another with parts of substitution concrete obstacles. 

Servicing crews positioned a short term barrier and the Section of Transportation’s Bridge Preservation Business arrived to examine the problems. When the barrier was in area, employees at the Hood Canal Bridge performed a exam opening to make guaranteed that the bridge would open its entire size for marine visitors. 

The span reopened at about 10:30 p.m. Friday.

The bridge was scheduled to be shut down to 1 lane Tuesday for four hours to eliminate a segment of barrier wall that was destroyed in the crash.