With a week and a half to go until the scheduled reopening of the West Seattle Bridge, four things to tell you about:
(Bridge work zone during our last visit, August 25)
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW: We asked SDOT if a key final step – load testing – has been taken yet, and what’s happening in general. From spokesperson Ethan Bergerson:
The final load-testing event, which will involve driving specialized heavy trucks over the bridge and measuring how the structure responds, is currently scheduled for Tuesday, September 13. In a sense, load testing has already been occurring for several months now as our intelligent monitoring system has been continuously recording data from the bridge 24/7. The bridge has responded as predicted throughout the repair process, as well as in response to changing weather conditions from the hottest days of summer to the coldest nights this past winter without showing any cause for concern. This ongoing stream of positive data under various extreme conditions gives us a lot of confidence that the final testing event next week will go according to plan.
This week, we are pouring concrete to close the last access points in the bridge deck that were created to allow crews and equipment to get into the bridge’s girders. We also began removing equipment and materials from the construction site that are no longer needed for remaining work activities. We plan to remove a few of the worksite trailers this week, which served as onsite storage facilities and breakrooms for crew members.
Crews are also continuing roadway preparation work to get the corridor ready for vehicles. This work includes pouring concrete for road barrier openings, striping lanes, and replacing guardrails. Permanent inspection platform installation is still underway inside the girders as well.
Meantime, three biznotes looking ahead to the reopening:
COUNTDOWN SIGN: Service businesses with a regional customer base are especially excited about the reopening of the high bridge. O’Neill Plumbing (6056 California SW; WSB sponsor) just moved that sign to its Morgan Junction property, after initially placing it by their Admiral/Avalon sign. Tim O’Neill (pictured) says, “We’ll be in line on the 18th, ready to go!”
COLLABORATIVE BREW: The photo and announcement are from The Beer Junction proprietor Allison Herzog:
To celebrate the opening of the West Seattle Bridge, several members of the West Seattle beer community collaborated on brewing a beer! Reunited is a West Coast IPA brewed at Good Society in collaboration with Beveridge Place Pub, Ounces, The Beer Junction, and Best of Hands Barrelhouse. We are planning to concurrently release our collaboration beer on Sunday, September 18th to coincide with the bridge reopening date and to welcome non-West Seattleites back to our beautiful peninsula. We plan to have the beer on tap all through the week of September 18th through the 24th, so stop by for a pint to celebrate!
PARTY PLAN: Another of those collaborators – the closest one to the bridge, in fact – has announced a party plan! From Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW) co-proprietor Laurel Trujillo:
WS Bridge Opening Party at Ounces!
Saturday 9/17: 2-9 pm & Sunday, 9/18: 11 am-8 pmWe’re throwing a 2-day event to celebrate the last day on the WS Island and the Opening of the bridge! Woohoo! Event features food trucks, desserts, live music, and so much more! We’ll also be tapping Reunited IPA [explained above]. Event is FREE and family/dog friendly. Full event details and a schedule of events can be found here: ounceswestseattle.com/wsbridgeopen
The Saturday theme will be “Last Day on the Island”; the Sunday theme will be “Welcome (back) to West Seattle.”
Is your business among those doing something special in connection with the bridge reopening? Please send us the info so we can include it in updates like this, as well as our Event Calendar – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
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