(WSB photo, September 17)
September 17, 2022, was a memorable night in West Seattle – that’s when SDOT reopened the high bridge, two and a half years after safety concerns shut it down with four hours’ warning. Looking ahead to today’s anniversary, we asked SDOT last week (one day before the crash that left the low bridge temporarily closed) about the high bridge’s status and inspection schedule. From SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson:
Since the strengthening work on the West Seattle High Bridge was completed, we have continued to monitor the bridge remotely 24/7 with a structural health monitoring system. The most recent in-person bridge inspection was conducted in July 2024 and did not observe any unexpected anomalies. The findings from both the ongoing electronic monitoring and the latest routine in-person inspection show that the bridge is continuing to behave as predicted and there is no indication that the condition of the bridge has changed since we published this update last year.
Fixing/strengthening the bridge cost $67 million, with $37 million of that covered by the federal government. The repaired bridge is expected to last for its original projected lifespan, until 2060.
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