Construction equipment moves into place for new 520 bridge
Mar 29, 2012, 2:19 PM | Updated: 4:22 pm
The Transportation Department says drivers on the Highway 520 floating bridge will see construction equipment move into place Thursday on Lake Washington to start work on a new floating bridge.
Large barges with mounted cranes and a number of other barges will be moving staging materials out onto the lake to prepare for the new bridge.
After 15 years of planning and design the department received the 18th and final permit last week, and Gov. Chris Gregoire said construction could begin while five permits are under appeal.
“You’re going to see actual work going on in the water, installation of a couple of the other types of anchors that we have on this project that secure the floating bridge to the bottom of the lake,” explains John White the 520 bridge project manager.
In June, the first pontoons being built in Tacoma and Aberdeen should be towed to the lake. The bridge is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2014.
The new six-lane bridge is the major part of a $4.7 billion project to improve 13 miles of Highway 520 between Seattle and Redmond.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
