Emergency repairs complete on SR 520 floating bridge | Span still closed for work on SR 520 project

Published 9:29 am Sunday, March 11, 2012

Emergency underwater repairs to a second damaged State Route 520 floating bridge cable connection found on Friday were complete by Saturday afternoon.

Divers removed and replaced a broken bolt and damaged pin on the southeast anchor cable, an operation made more difficult because the work took place in

water 60 feet deep.

All work on the damaged anchor cable connections is now complete.

One-third of the floating bridge anchor cables are inspected every two years, and 15 of the 58 were replaced in 2010. Corrosion was initially suspected as the cause of the damaged  pin connections. While a final determination is pending, bridge engineers now say it appears that the steel hardware connections were bent by forces produced by wind and wave action on the lake.

Immediate repairs were necessary because engineers said connecting pins tying together anchor cables and anchors already had slid partially out of position. If a pin was forced completely out, separating the bridge and cable from the anchor on the lakebed, it would reduce the bridge’s ability to withstand large storms.

Repair work is preliminarily estimated to cost up to $60,000.

The bridge remains closed for prescheduled weekend construction. Construction crews are demolishing an overpass in Medina and digging huge trenches across highway lanes in several locations on the Eastside throughout the weekend.

During the closure, bridge maintenance crews also performed maintenance work on the drawspan.

Eastside demolition work continues through 5 a.m. Monday, March 12.