Date:  Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Contact: Jeff Adamson, North Central Region Communications Manager, Wenatchee, (509) 667-2815, (509) 669-8778 Cell. E-mail: adamsoj@wsdot.wa.gov

WENATCHEE – The US 97 Beebe Bridge was closed when it was damaged by a truck accident on Aug. 31 and will once again be open to all traffic by 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9. It has been open to single lane, piloted traffic since Sept. 28, four weeks after the closure began.

“It is a tribute to the engineers and technicians,” said Project Engineer Brantley Bain, “They accomplished in weeks what should have taken months.” Since the accident, WSDOT staff and private contractors worked around the clock to repair the bridge.

Final repair work, primarily sealing and painting of the replacement trusses and beams, will require piloted single lane traffic between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. through Friday.

Pedestrians were allowed on the bridge the day after Labor Day and WSDOT contracted with LINK transit for shuttles from the parking lots at Chelan County Public Utility District’s nearby Chelan Falls Park to the west end of the bridge and then up to the city of Chelan and back.

“We’re grateful to LINK, the PUD, the School District, Chelan and the many businesses that accommodated the inconvenience that the pedestrian-only access across the bridge imposed,” said Bain.

“When all the bills are in, the total costs for the repairs will likely be near $1.5 million,” said Bain, “But getting it open as soon as possible was everyone’s goal.” WSDOT’s traffic data office conservatively estimates the Beebe Bridge’s closure cost businesses some $15,000 per day, or nearly a half million dollars since the closure began.

Pictures of the collision, structure damage and repair work can be seen on the WSDOT Flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157622081917117/ 

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