SDOT says the West Seattle Bridge remains on track to reopen the week of September 12th, as announced almost six weeks ago. If you’re on the SDOT mailing list for the bridge and/or City Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s newsletter list, you’ve probably seen the Friday updates on what’s been happening with bridge work. The last paragraph of last Friday’s SDOT update caught our attention:
… As we move through these final phases of repairs, we continuously inspect the bridge and check our work. Earlier this month during a routine crack inspection, we discovered a spall area that was about 2 by 9 feet. Spalling is when a part of the concrete surface naturally weathers, chips or breaks away. After looking into the spall, it’s clear that it is not related to the issues that are currently being repaired and it does not indicate any structural or systemic issues. We will be able to repair this spall with no impact to the bridge reopening schedule.
We asked for more information about that and photos if available. Here’s what we received:
(The spall) is the area on the exterior surface of the bridge that looks like flaking or separating concrete. To fix it, we will remove the unsound concrete, and then place forms and fill the void with grout. Once the grout has cured we will apply carbon-fiber wrapping, similar to other locations on the bridge.
As for what’s happening with the overall repairs, SDOT says crews have “finished installing the nearly 250,000 feet of steel cable needed for the new post-tensioning system inside the bridge (and) started the process of tightening the post-tensioning system by pulling on the cables with hydraulic equipment.” An additional note about current work comes from Councilmember Herbold’s Friday update, and it relates to this photo we recently received from a reader:
Herbold’s update explains:
The first two of six deck overlay pours are scheduled this week for the Fauntleroy Expressway leading up to the bridge. The first 10 of the 60 concrete panels being replaced are being poured this week as well.
The Fauntleroy Expressway is the southwest end of the bridge – and technically a separate structure.
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