UPDATE — The U.S. Highway 101 bridge over the Elwha River west of Port Angeles was cleared of fallen trees and downed power lines this morning and is now open.
The Elwha pushed near its flood stage of 20 feet at the bridge Wednesday night.
OUR EARLIER STORY:
PORT ANGELES — The Elwha River Bridge on U.S. Highway 101 west of Port Angeles is completely impassable and won’t be reopened until sometime today.
At least one power line is down, said Michael Howe, Clallam County Public Utility District spokesman, and the 564 electrical customers between Laird’s Corner and Lake Sutherland who have been without power since late Wednesday afternoon won’t have it restored until crews can get across the bridge.
To detour around the blockage, use state highways 112 and 113.
Steve Russell, state Department of Transportation maintenance and operations supervisor for Clallam and Jefferson counties, said there was little chance the bridge will be reopened before dawn today, and it could remain closed until noon.
Riotous flood waters fed by two days of heavy rain eroded the banks and undermined trees. The state Department of Transportation reported the highway blocked by fallen trees at 5:21 p.m. Wednesday.
One huge cottonwood tree fell across the bridge.
“The bridge is totally blocked,” said Assistant Chief Mike DeRousie of Clallam County Fire District 2, whose department was assisting Clallam County Public Utility District workers and others at about 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
To detour around the blockage, use state highways 112 and 113.
DeRousie also said that an electrical wire on the north side of bridge was hanging only some three or four feet off the water.
“If a log jam or a log floats down the river and grabs the wire, we’ve got a real problem,” he said.
Russell said that some work on the tree and the power lines that are suspended near the river may have to wait until morning, when there is enough light for crews to work safely.
The National Weather Service expects another storm to bring more rain into the area late this afternoon.
