PORT ANGELES — Mark your calendars: the new and improved Elwha River bridge will open to the public on Sept. 25.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the double-deck, $19.7 million bridge that replaced a nearly century-old span west of Port Angeles is planned for 1 p.m.
The ceremony will take place on the east approach to the 14-foot-wide pedestrian deck that hangs beneath the 28-foot-wide automobile deck.
Part of the allure of the 85-foot-high bridge is that pedestrians and automobiles are separated, and county officials are asking pedestrians to stay on the walking path for safety reasons.
The pedestrian deck is part of the Olympic Discovery Trail, which will eventually extend from Port Townsend to LaPush.
Local and state dignitaries — along with the bridge designers and engineers — will attend the opening ceremony. A list of dignitaries has not been finalized.
Competition of the largest bridge project in the history of Clallam County’s Public Works Department is on time and within the contingency budget, County Engineer Ross Tyler said Monday.
The project was funded through state, tribal and federal dollars.
The bridge is located on Elwha River Road about halfway between state Highway 112 and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Center.
After the automobile deck was completed last spring, crews from Parsons RCI suspended prebuilt, 8-foot concrete sections of the pedestrian deck with 2 ½-inch-thick cables.
There were 56 sections in all.
The pedestrian and bike path will give travelers on the Olympic Discovery Trail an excellent views of the Elwha River and the surrounding forest.
On a recent visit to the site, Tyler spotted a school of king salmon in the Elwha River, he said.
Old and new
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the first vehicles will cross the 589-foot-long span in a short parade.
“We’d like to have an old, vintage logging truck and a new logging truck going across the bridge at the same time with their horns tootin’,” Tyler said.
Traffic will be blocked at the access points to the bridge until the end of the short ceremony.
“Then we’ll be ready to rock and roll,” Tyler said.
The public can attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony by taking Elwha River Road to Crown Z Water Road and follow the signs to park.
“This is a celebration for anybody,” Tyler said.
“The only thing we’re really asking is that people don’t bring their dogs. Leave the dogs in the car — leave the dogs at home for this one –and come down and enjoy the opening.”
The bridge replacement project was kick-started by the catastrophic collapse of the Interstate 35W span in Minneapolis in 2007.
Clallam County closed the creaky one-lane Elwha River Bridge shortly after the Minnesota bridge collapse.
The 1913 bridge was the only one closed in the state following the I-35W collapse.
Parsons RCI was awarded the contract to build the new bridge in July 2007.
The contractor also built the two Eighth Street bridges spanning Tumwater and Valley Creek gorges in Port Angeles last year.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.