3rd UPDATE — Tugs ensure no long delay after Hood Canal Bridge opening; span open until further notice as of Wednesday evening

Published 12:01 am Wednesday, September 16, 2015

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SHINE — Two tugboats pushing on the Hood Canal Bridge averted a possible three-hour delay after a marine opening Wednesday morning.

The bridge on state Highway 104 was closed to vehicular traffic at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday to allow the drawspan to open for passage of a boat.

The drawspan was lowered and the bridge reopened to vehicular traffic at 9:48 a.m., a delay of 33 minutes.

State Department of Transportation officials had warned that the marine opening could lead to a three-hour delay for motorists crossing the bridge.

“We were concerned because there was a high tide,” said Claudia Bingham Baker, Transportation spokeswoman.

Last Wednesday, the bridge was closed to motor traffic for six hours after the drawspan was opened for a boat and then fell out of alignment with the bridge by 7 feet. It was pulled back into place during a slack tide.

The problem is caused by a combination of construction on the floating bridge and running tides.

Another marine opening originally scheduled at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday was canceled.

After a scheduled closure at 6:15 p.m., the bridge was reported open at 6:57 p.m. Wednesday by Transportation.

Transportation has hired two tugs to exert constant pressure on the bridge to keep the drawspan in place, Baker said.

The tugs are pushing all the time on a platform that holds the control tower.

“It’s a good location for exerting pressure on the drawspan without any danger of damaging the drawspan,” Baker said.

Transportation officials will be concerned about possible delays until a cable — a sister to the one that contributed to Wednesday’s long delay — is replaced, which is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

“We’re right at the tug’s capacity to realign the drawspan after a marine opening when the tides are running,” Baker said.