Does $12 million seem like a lot of money to paint a bridge?
Dec 18, 2014, 7:00 AM | Updated: 1:17 pm
A fresh coat of paint on the Lewis River Bridge came at a price tag of $12 million. (Washington State Department of Transportation)
(Washington State Department of Transportation)
The wraps just came off the freshly painted Lewis River Bridge on I-5 in southern Washington. The project to apply a fresh coat left the bridge covered for months and cost $12 million to complete. Doesn’t that seem like a lot?
Tamara Hellman, with the Washington State Department of Transportation, agreed to give us some insight into why bridge painting would come at such a high cost, and why she thinks it’s ultimately worth it.
Hellman explains the state doesn’t just paint bridges to make them look good. The paint is actually vital to preserving the bridge. It seals and protects the steel from the rain and prevents rust from taking hold.
“It’s more than just making them look pretty,” says Hellman. “It’s investing in preservation of our bridges for the state’s future ensuring the infrastructure we’ve already built is preserved for decades to come.”
The last time the Lewis River Bridge received a new paint job was 24 years ago, and Hellman says this will keep the bridge protected for another quarter century.
“The work that we do gives us about 20 to 25 years of life on the bridge,” says Hellman, “which reduces the amount of times we have to rebuild bridges which costs us a lot more.”
So $12 million every 25 years is a lot cheaper than building a new bridge. But still, why does it cost so much?
Hellman says a lot of the money goes to protecting the environment.
“We have to make sure any paint, dirt or debris that comes off of the bridge during the cleaning process is contained and then taken and disposed of properly, as well as ensuring when the painting is happening that paint and other debris is not falling into the river.”
Some of the money also goes to safety features to keep drivers and workers safe and to keep paint off the cars. If they didn’t do that, the state would have to close the bridges during painting.
Also, even at the $12 million price tag, this project apparently came in 20 percent under budget.
KIRO Radio Editor Will Maeda contributed to this report.
