Date:  Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Contact: Jamie Holter, WSDOT Communications, 206.440.4698 (Shoreline)

Federally funded emergency work to protect highway goes like clockwork

SNOQUALMIE – Drivers who use SR 202 between Snoqualmie Falls and Fall City are safer now traveling over Tokul Creek on SR 202. This week crews finished federally-funded emergency work to keep the creek in its banks and prevent logjams under the road.

“Water rushing under a road can be dangerous,” said Amir Ahmadi, WSDOT construction engineer. “The sheer force of fast-moving water can eat away at the bridge support piers.” That was the situation at this location.

After the floods of January 2009, crews monitoring waterways noticed that the course of Tokul Creek had changed and unused piers in place for decades had started catching logs and other debris much like a dam. This natural dam created channels where water flowed more swiftly than did the previously meandering creek.

Under an emergency 30-day contract to delicately balanced low-water levels and local fish habitat, crews temporarily rerouted the creek and spent three weeks removing debris and the decades-old piers, positioning 12-ton boulders to protect new piers that support a bridge on SR 202 and sinking large rocks to calm the creek flow.

“This was a fascinating project,” said Ahmadi. “To work in water, we needed buyoff from agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. This type of construction is so different from building lanes on a highway. Our contractor, Northwest Construction, did a great job in keeping this work moving quickly.”

Crews wrapped up work Monday, Sept. 27. You can see pictures of the work here:
www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157624962972584/  

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