Green River Bridge repair team needed materials but the store was closed

The Green River Bridge on the Maple Valley Highway in between Black Diamond and Enumclaw. (Image from WSDOT).

( Photo from WSDOT).



BY CHRIS SULLIVAN.

KIRO Newsradio traffic press reporter.

There's absolutely nothing worse than beginning a home repair and realizing the job is a lot more complicated than you believed. It happens to the Washington Department of Transportation too.

I keep in mind tearing out some drywall for what I thought would be a basic repair work. As soon as inside, the damage was much worse than I expected.

More Chokepoints: The majority of individuals failed the KIRO Traffic driving test.

That took place to WSDOT over the weekend on the Green River Bridge on the Maple Valley Highway in between Black Diamond and Enumclaw.

" The teams got out there and found more wear and tear had actually happened on the concrete supports from the bridge deck that holds these expansion joints in place," WSDOT's James Poling said.

Just like my house repair job, this job needed a lot more effort, and Poling stated the workers needed extra products to get it done.

That's when they learnt they couldn't get those extra supplies until Monday. We've all been there too. We realize we require another piece of wood or pipe for our task, and the shop is closed.

That's why a simple weekend closure of the Green River Bridge is now a week-long closure. WSDOT expects to have the lanes back open on Friday.

A manageable detour remains in place until the task is ended up, however Poling knows this is giant discomfort for everyone in the area.

" No detour is convenient," he said.

People who use this bridge frequently have experienced random closures just recently to handle the growth joints, and even with a now week-long closure, this task needs to fix that.

" There were certainly ways to quick-patch this, but we 'd be right back out in a year or more," Poling said.

The work is weather-dependent, however the work zone is little enough that it can be tarped as the concrete treatments. The temperature level shouldn't be a concern either.

Have a look at more of Chris' Chokepoints.

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