Date:  Thursday, August 12, 2010

Contact:
Troy Watts, Field Engineer, 253-589-6100
WSDOT Communications, 360-357-2789

TACOMA – A “balancing act” of sorts has started above sections of I-5 in Tacoma where the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and contractor, Guy F. Atkinson Construction are building a fairly unique bridge that will remove one of Pierce County’s worst bottlenecks.

The new bridge crews are building connects northbound I-5 to westbound SR 16 and reduces the potential for collisions and improves traffic flow through Tacoma by eliminating an area where drivers are shoehorned from three lanes into one lane.

Northbound I-5 drivers especially have, no doubt, already noticed new concrete columns adjacent to the lanes near the City Center exit. What differentiates these five new piers from the other piers constructed for the project is that instead of building on top of them, crews will build out from them – segment by segment.

Several nights each week, Atkinson hauls bridge segments to the site and lifts them into place. Each segment is secured in place with steel cables and rods anchoring them to the pier column.

Once each piece is secured, an additional segment is added on the opposite side of the column, balancing each side out as they are connected. During the erection process, each column will look like a large concrete letter T.

Drivers can expect a visual distraction and should plan for continued nighttime closures as the project proceeds. The new bridge crosses I-5, exit 133 to City Center, the on-ramp from eastbound SR 16 to northbound I-5, the southbound ramp from I-5 to 38th Street, the off-ramp from southbound I-5 to westbound SR 16 and the on-ramp from northbound I-5.

The $184 million West Bound Nalley Valley Project started in January 2009 and is expected to be complete in 2011. The work is funded primarily by the 2003 gas-tax funding package and eliminates the weave of traffic where vehicles from I-5 change lanes in order to merge onto SR 16 or exit at Sprague Avenue. For more information about this project, visit http://www.tacomatraffic.com/.

To see the latest photos, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157611967745770/.

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WSDOT keeps people, businesses and the economy moving by operating and improving the state's transportation systems. To learn more about what we're doing, go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/news for pictures, videos, news and blogs. Real time traffic information is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic or by dialing 5-1-1.

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