Murphy’s Law hits bridge project between Everett and Mukilteo

Have you ever had a project where you ran into unexpected problems over and over again? The City of Everett is dealing with a big one right now, which has pushed a project months behind schedule.

I first reported on the Edgewater Bridge between Everett and Mukilteo in the fall of 2024. That’s when the 57-year-old bridge over a ravine was closed, cutting off direct access between the two cities. The new bridge was expected to open in about a year, but that opening date has been pushed back to April, a delay of a few months.

Hidden timbers, equipment failure, and atmospheric rivers

One might say this project has been plagued by Murphy’s Law — just about everything that could go wrong did.

“Unfortunately, we ran into some timbers, some bad geology, and weather conditions that have kind of pushed us to beyond our original, anticipated substantial completion date,” Principal Transportation Engineer for the City of Everett Daniel Enrico said.

But that’s the 30,000-foot view of what happened.

Everett City Engineer Tom Hood explained that those unexpected wood timbers and concrete had nothing to do with the bridge being replaced.

“There was a timber bridge prior to that, which, of course, we didn’t have any records of,” he said. “And based on what we found, they demolished the old bridge and just left it in the ravine to get covered up. And of course, we found it during construction.”

It had to be removed.

Then one of the two cranes being used on the project broke down.

“That cost us, as you can imagine, a couple of weeks while parts were procured and repairs were done, so that was another one of those things that just set us back a little bit,” Hood said.

And then came the atmospheric rivers.

“That rainfall actually overwhelmed our storm sewer system and sent a torrent of water down the ravine and took out much of the slope with it,” Hood said.

Add it all up, and you’re left with a lengthy delay.

It’s something that the 6,000 daily drivers didn’t want to hear. It’s something the neighbors on either side of the bridge didn’t want to hear, and Hood understands that.

“Our first message is empathy with the neighbors that are affected by this,” Hood said. “The closer the people live to the bridge, the more affected they are, obviously, with the detour route and things like that, and so that is never lost on us.”

Some good news

The good news is that the work is now out of the ravine, and the risk of new surprises is going down.

“All the girders are set,” Enrico said. “They are tying rebar and putting in the forms for pouring the deck, and within the next couple of weeks, we’ll have a deck all the way across that bridge.”

And then comes the concrete approaches. The weather is the only real concern going forward. The city is working with the contractor to pick up the pace where possible.

“Once the bridge deck is cured and the approach slabs are cured, the intent is to put down a temporary stripe and open it to traffic, vehicular traffic at first. So that’s goal number one,” Hood said.

Pedestrians and all those dog walkers will have to wait a little longer than the cars to cross the new bridge as the work wraps up.

This is just another good reminder that you never know what you’re going to find when you start digging in our state.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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