PORT ANGELES — Drivers can expect delays at the Elwha River bridge on U.S. Highway 101 on Thursday.
One-way alternating traffic is planned from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to allow state Department of Transportation bridge preservation crews to conduct a scheduled bridge inspection.
In the event of severe weather conditions, the inspection could be rescheduled.
Engineers are keeping an eye on bridge stability since it was discovered that the concrete arch bridge has been undermined by erosion in the wake of the removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams.
Dam removal, which occurred from 2011 to 2014, has lowered the river bed at the bridge by about 14 feet, Transportation officials said. Boulders have been added to reinforce the base of the piers and west abutment.
A replacement for the 1926 bridge has been fully funded and is expected to go out to bid in early 2019, Rep. Mike Chapman has said.
For more information, see www.ElwhaRiverBridge.com.
Night to Shine prom
PORT ANGELES — Preregistration is still open for the annual free Night to Shine, a prom for people with special needs ages 14 and older on the North Olympic Peninsula, which is set for Friday.
The prom will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
Preregistration is required and space is limited to 125 guests, as well as 125 volunteers who will act as companions or buddies.
The local event is in its second year.
Hillcrest Baptist Church and The Crossing Church — with community partners Clallam Mosaic, Camp Beausite and Wilderness Escapes — will join more than 450 churches around the world to host the annual free Night to Shine, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation.
To obtain guest registration forms, call 360-775-5693 or send an email to clallamnts@gmail.com.
Forms also can be picked up in Port Angeles at Hillcrest Baptist Church, 205 Black Diamond Road.; at Clallam Mosaic, 301 E. Lopez Ave., Suite 4; and at The Crossing Church, 43 O’Brien Road.
Field carrier landing practice
COUPEVILLE — Field carrier landing practice operations for aircraft will commence at the outlying field midafternoon Monday.
Aircraft carrier-based flight training also will occur at Ault Field midafternoon Tuesday.
Comments, including noise complaints, can be directed to the station’s comment line at 360-257-6665 or via email at comments.NASWI@navy.mil.
All other questions can be directed to the public affairs office at 360-257-2286.
Demolition range
ESQUIMALT, B.C. — The land-based demolition range at Bentinck Island will be in use Monday through Friday, Feb. 9, the Royal Canadian Navy announced.
The range will be in use from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily during that time.
Bentinck Island is located near Race Rocks in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and is used as a terrestrialdemolition range by the Canadian Armed Forces.
Local residents will likely be unaware of the activities except on days when environmental conditions suchas temperature, humidity and wind direction affect how far the sound will travel.
Studies conducted on the potential environmental effects of Bentinck Island demolitions have found thatblast noise in the marine environment during land-based demolitions is almost undetectable by acousticequipment above that of other underwater background sounds such as waves and marine life, the RoyalCanadian Navy said in a news release.
Creative construction at library
SEQUIM — The Sequim Library is pairing with the Imagine Children’s Museum of Everett to present“Creative Construction for Kids,” at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Budding architects, engineers and builders ages 5 to 6 years old are invited to learn about various shapesby designing, building and testing their strengths in a series of challenges at the library, 630 N. SequimAve.
Due to space limitations, preregistration is required. To register, visit www.nols.org, call the library 360-683-1161, or email youth@nols.org.
Programs such as Creative Construction support the kind of learning that nurtures science, technology,engineering and math skills, according to a news release.
“Flexible thinking about cause and effect is naturally suited to encourage the kind of reasoning anddesigning that allow children to build and fail and build again — the same way scientists work to testtheories,” according to the release.
All materials will be provided.
For more information, contact the library.
Chain gang busy cleaning area roads
PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Chain Gang filled in potholes and erosion caused by rain on Little River Road during the week of Dec. 4-8.
Notable items found along roadways were 14 needles, two recliners, three couches, seven mattresses, 10 tires, a desk, two wood doors, two dressers, a TV, a 21-foot galvanized pipe, a 5-gallon bucket, two plastic totes, a bike helmet, an area rug, a car stereo, a radiator, roofing, cement blocks, a windshield and a wood bed frame.
Crew members found illegal dumpsites at Karpen and Little River roads, and the truck route totaling 3,320 pounds of garbage from the dumpsites.
Crew members cleaned four miles of West 18th Street and 400 pounds of litter. Crew members also removed debris from the storm and limbs in county-right-of-way on Old Olympic Highway; Herrick, Karpen and Blue Mountain roads.
From Dec. 11-15, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Chain Gang placed ground asphalt in the county-right-of-way on North Barr Road and used a compactor to pack the asphalt.
Notable items found along roadways were four needles, two wood pallets, a 55-gallon garbage can, a cooler, a 50-gallon cooler, sheet rock, two lamps, a fan, three 5-gallon buckets, six tires, metal car parts, a car battery, a TV antenna, plastic gas can and funnel, a tripod, a kid’s backpack, an 8-foot metal pipe, the lens to a car headlight, a metal bed frame, a gas tank to a vehicle, a fender to a truck, concrete cinder blocks, top to a metal 55-gallon drum, metal plates, a soccer ball and a 5-gallon Olympic Springs water jug.
Crew members found illegal dumpsites at Eden Valley, Joyce-Piedmont, Deer Park and Little River roads; state Highway 112; U.S. Highway 101 and Mount Pleasant Road, and the county shop totaling 1,701 pounds of garbage from the dumpsites.
Crew members also cleaned six miles of Dan Kelley Road and 200 pounds of litter, 10 miles of O’Brien Road-Township Line and 120 pounds of litter, four miles of Monroe Road and 100 pounds of litter, and 1.5 miles of truck route and 200 pounds of litter.
Crew members also removed grass and leaves from the drainage ditch on Mount Pleasant Road.
From Dec. 18-22, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Chain Gang cleaned the county shop yard of scrap metal, and placed it in the recycling bin, as well as cleaned flatbed trailers of snow.
Notable items found along roadways were 10 needles, one tire, five small propane tanks, one 5-gallon propane tank, pieces of metal, window frames, two TVs, a chrome bumper, a 55-gallon drum, a car hood, a car valance, old clothes, two TV dishes, an exercise machine, a dishwasher, a muffler with tailpipe and a car seat.
Crew members found illegal dumpsites on Dry Creek, Taylor Cut Off and Fish Hatchery roads totaling 2,060 pounds of garbage from the dumpsites.
Crew members cleaned 7 miles of Old Olympic Highway and 400 pounds of litter.
Crew members also cleaned trees and limbs from county-right-of-way and roadways following the snow storm on Black Diamond, Little River, Old Mill, Mt. Pleasant, Monroe, Blue Mountain, Gellor, Sutter, O’Brien, Deer Park, Township Line, South Barr, Wye, Place, South Shore, Joyce-Piedmont, Crescent Beach, Camp Hayden, Freshwater Bay, Eden Valley, Dan Kelly, Hunt, Karpen, Kreaman, and Durwater roads; and Edgewood Drive.
From Dec. 25-29, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Chain Gang painted over graffiti on the Lower Elwha Bridge and dug out as well as cleaned a ditch at 1400 block of Black Diamond Road.
Crew members found an illegal dump site on Hot Springs Road totaling 180 pounds of garbage.
Crew members cleaned 14 miles of Quillayute Airport Road and 420 pounds of litter, and 14.5 miles of La Push Road-state Highway 110 and 1,060 pounds of litter.
Crew members also recycled 259 pounds of aluminum cans.
The chain gang has so far this year cleaned 554.45 miles of roadway, picked up 96,650 pounds of dump site litter, picked up 45,900 pounds of roadside litter, recycled 3,651 pounds of aluminum, trimmed 45,761 feet of weeds along guardrails, removed or sprayed 26,815 Scotch broom plants and brushed 27.75 miles of county rights of way.
