PORT ANGELES — The Elwha River Bridge reopened to traffic Tuesday morning with new steel guardrails on the 85-foot-high vehicle deck, Clallam County Engineer Ross Tyler said.
The top deck of the 6-month-old span west of Port Angeles closed to traffic March 11 so that Parsons RCI could replace a temporary wooden railing with 42-inch-tall weathering steel guardrails.
The original metal rail was 24 inches tall. County officials say the taller, completed railing will protect bicyclists from careening off the bridge in a crash.
Most pedestrians cross the river canyon on the pedestrian path — part of the Olympic Discovery Trial — suspended by cables below car deck.
Some bicyclists and pedestrians, however, cross the $19.7 million bridge on the upper deck, which is part of Elwha River Road.
The county had $100,000 in prefabricated railing ready to be installed in early February. Construction was delayed so the county could finalize a contract with Parsons and gain approval from the Federal Highway Administration.
The county has not received the final cost of labor.
Including time and materials, Tyler estimates the cost of the railing will end up in the $125,000 to $140,000 range.
“Probably leaning to the lower end of that scale,” he said.
The 589-foot span opened in September and replaced the one-lane Warren-truss-type steel bridge that served the county from 1914 to 2007.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.