Date:
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Contact:
Bronlea Mishler, WSDOT communications, 360-757-5947
Chris Damitio, WSDOT project engineer, 360-788-7400
Weekend closure canceled due to forecast of snow, cold temps
BELLINGHAM – Panel replacement work scheduled to close a lane of I-5 all weekend in Bellingham has been canceled due to a forecast of snow and cold temperatures. This work will be rescheduled later in the month.
Instead, crews will begin weeknight lane closures of I-5 to prepare for dowel bar installation on a five-mile stretch of I-5 between Ferndale and Bellingham.
The five-month, $2.8 million project is expected to employ more than 25 workers and three local construction companies.
The weeknight lane closures will start Monday, March 9, as crews begin cutting slots into the roadway near Ferndale. Crews will close the right lane of southbound I-5 near the Nooksack River Bridge (exit 263) from 7 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays for up to three weeks as they complete the work.
This will be a moving lane closure as crews work their way south on I-5 to the Bakerview exit (258) in Bellingham. Drivers can expect to see crews using a machine to cut a series of parallel grooves into the pavement. Crews will work from the north end of the closure point to the south end throughout the night. If they are making rapid progress, they may move barrels into place to extend the closure point further south.
Slot cutting is the first step toward installing dowel bars between five miles of concrete panels from Ferndale to Bellingham. The dowel bars prevent the panels from tipping. Crews will cut grooves in the concrete panels, then jackhammer out the slots. Once the slots are opened up, crews will install metal dowel bars and eventually pave over the slots.
This project will improve safety for the approximately 25,000 drivers who use this stretch of I-5 daily. For more information about this I-5 pavement repair, visit the project Web page at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/I5/Bakerview_NooksackRiverBridge.
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