South Park Bridge update: Back in service as of very early Sunday – for now

(What’s shown above is the newest image from the SDOT camera in South Park – refresh this page for an update)
10:57 AM: The South Park Bridge remains “stuck in the open position,” according to both SDOT via Twitter and a check of the 14th Ave. S/Cloverdale traffic cameras (including the one above). No ETA for repairs so far. So if you have to get across the Duwamish River, use the West Seattle bridges or 1st Avenue South Bridge. We’ll update when it’s fixed.

(P.S. Refresh this story/page for the newest image – what you see above is pulled directly from what’s on the SDOT site.)

1:52 PM UPDATE: SDOT now says the bridge might be closed “until Tuesday.” As you can see in the image above, there are now barricades to keep surface traffic entirely off the bridge.

3:47 PM UPDATE: From King County Roads, which operates the bridge:

South Park Bridge update: Problem narrowed to faulty pump under warranty. Identifying how to lower bridge for vehicles.

— King County Roads (@kcroads) February 21, 2015

6:23 PM: Another update from KC Roads:

King County has determined that the cause of this morning’s South Park Bridge mechanical malfunction was a faulty transmission pump that will need to be rebuilt or replaced under warranty. Replacement parts are expected to arrive Tuesday. In the meantime, the county is evaluating whether the bridge spans can be safely lowered to allow for vehicle traffic.

Until the bridge reopens, motorists should use the 1st Avenue South Bridge as a detour. The county understands how important the bridge is to the community and motorists – every effort is being made to get the bridge reopened to both vehicle and marine traffic as quickly as possible.

The new bridge has been in use for eight months.

2:38 AM SUNDAY: Now King County reports the bridge is back in service, and KING 5 confirms it, though the repairs haven’t made yet, so we’ll keep close watch on this.

rob February 21, 2015 (1:59 pm)

totally unproductive comment, but i would just like to point out the old bridge did actually work before they tore it down :-)

forgotmyname February 21, 2015 (2:07 pm)

Shouldn’t that be ‘open’ for days? ;)

WSB February 21, 2015 (3:47 pm)

“Closed to surface traffic”

sophista-tiki February 21, 2015 (3:26 pm)

ruh roh trapped in the hood again

PW45 February 21, 2015 (3:51 pm)

Lololololol…. idiots. Someone’s going to be looking for a new job. Even a brand new bmw runs longer than that before breaking down. (Sometimes)

smokeycretin9 February 21, 2015 (4:22 pm)

Just like when an escalator is broken, it’s really just become stairs again.

trickycoolj February 21, 2015 (4:24 pm)

Boo-urns. My commute just doubled on Monday. You can even see my office in the picture! Oddly they’ve been working on it since it opened. I was just wondering on Friday if they’re just making up things to do to extend their contract.

boy February 21, 2015 (4:36 pm)

Came up on this and had to turn around. No signs till you turn the corner. And no signs coming from the other way till your right on it. A lot of people turning around.

pw45 February 21, 2015 (4:51 pm)

Lol you can see my office too. A little further in the distance, Washington Mutual tower.

dsa February 21, 2015 (5:08 pm)

Be thankful there is a bridge.

Bradley February 21, 2015 (6:12 pm)

“Call your doctor if you have a drawspan that’s up for longer than 4 hours”

Joe Szilagyi February 21, 2015 (7:54 pm)

Is the bridge stuck closed? If so, why bar surface traffic until they actually need to test or repair something?
.
EDIT: Nevermind, I misread.

WSB February 21, 2015 (8:11 pm)

Still struggling with verbiage on bridge open/closed stories. Might have to stop using both of those words.

jim February 22, 2015 (1:07 am)

Being a federally navigable waterway, if the the bridge is not functional it would need to be left in the open position if they can get it there. That appears to be the case. Ships get the right-of-way.

WSB February 22, 2015 (2:37 am)

King County Roads says the bridge is now back in service, though they’re still awaiting the parts, and KING 5 reports it too – as of 2:30 am, anyway; we’ll see what morning brings.

smokeycretin9 February 22, 2015 (9:24 am)

So is the bridge open or closed? (sits back and giggles to self)

Jim February 22, 2015 (7:34 pm)

The bridge is open to car traffic. and marine traffic. The south park leaf is fully functional. if needed the Tukwila leaf can be opened for marine traffic, but at a reduced capability. I understand an overnight closure will be necessary to return everything back to normal operation. The pump will be repaired in the morning. As to why it had a blown seal in the first place, I can’t speculate.

Sorry, comment time is over.