People traveling on State Route 18 south of Snoqualmie on Tuesday morning, March 26th, will likely notice twin cranes lifting massive support beams onto each end of a future bridge.
Four concrete girders will be hoisted and set atop columns over 50 feet above the Raging River. This will create part of the support structure for a new two-lane bridge just west of the existing one.
Most of the work will happen from 8 a.m. to noon. People driving through the worksite are urged to slow down, remain focused on the road, and follow instructions from road crews, but no long-term lane closures are expected.
Travelers may see trucks with girder sections and the cranes lifting them high in the sky before settling them into place.
Two large hydraulic cranes will set the four precast concrete girders, each 105 feet long and about 5 feet tall. Each girder section weighs more than 51 tons, or about as much as an adult blue whale.
Improving safety and traffic flow
Design-builder Aecon is building the I-90/SR 18 interchange improvements project, working for the Washington State Department of Transportation to improve traffic flow and safety through the busy corridor.
The project includes building a diverging diamond interchange, widening 2 miles of SR 18 and adding a second two-lane bridge over Raging River, which will soon carry westbound SR 18 traffic next to the existing bridge.
In addition, two new four-lane bridges – one at Deep Creek and one at Lake Creek – are being built, and six barriers to fish passage will be removed. The $190 million I-90/SR 18 improvements project is fully funded through pre-existing gas tax funds and the 2015 Connecting Washington transportation fund. It is expected to be completed in 2025.
[Information provided by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)]
