I-5 bridge removal well underway; on track to reopen freeway by mid-June

Crews are making progress at the collapsed Interstate 5 bridge on the Skagit River that has detoured traffic on the main route between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, the Washington Transportation Department reported Wednesday.

“If you quantify how much has been removed, we’re looking at about two-thirds, but it’s the last third that’s going to be really tough, that’s the bridge deck,” says Bart Treece, with the Washington Department of Transportation. “That’s going to the toughest challenge in the debris removal.”

Some places have to be kept intact for the National Transportation Safety Board investigation.

The Washington Department of Transportation has said the fallen section has to be removed before final inspection of the spans still standing can begin.

Once the twisted metal and chunks of the concrete bridge deck are removed, and after the inspection, work can begin on the temporary span.

Pieces of the temporary bridge started arriving on Tuesday. Two of the 10 truckloads of prefabricated bridge are now on site.

“They’re going to start assembling the stuff,” says Treece. “When we’ve got the all clear to start moving full speed, we’ll be in good position.”

Treece says the timeline to get the temporary bridge up by mid-June remains on track.

The bridge collapsed after a semi-truck with an oversize load clipped a steel truss on the span, sending a car and pickup truck with a trailer into the river. A couple in the pickup and a man in the car escaped their wrecked vehicles and the frigid water with minor injuries.

On Wednesday, the NTSB planned to interview the driver of the pilot car that was leading the semi-truck to find out why it hit the truss. The truck made it off the span with the driver seeing the collapsing girders in the rear-view mirror.

The bridge carried 71,000 vehicles a day. Now, traffic is backing up a mile or two on the interstate as cars and trucks make their way on alternate routes through Mount Vernon on the south side and Burlington on north side of the river.

“People have to figure out what works for them,” Treece said. “It takes time for people to figure out what the new normal is.”

Mount Vernon is about 40 miles south of the Canadian border and the I-5 crossing is the third-largest border crossing with Canada. The problem at the Skagit River bridge is a major concern for trade and tourism in both directions, officials have said.

The temporary bridge being assembled by New Jersey-based Acro Bridge will be 160 feet long with two sections, each 24 feet wide. Treece described it as an “industry size erector set.” That will be enough for two lanes in each direction. It will be a little narrower than the bridge it replaced, so the speed limit will be lowered from 60 mph.

A longer-range bridge replacement will depend on several factors, including the NTSB investigation, Treece said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.