Manette Bridge underwater pier demolition begins next week
Work begins next week in the Port Washington Narrows to remove the final sections of the 1930 Manette Bridge, Washington State Dept of Transportation press release said.
Contractor crews will crumble eight reinforced concrete piers ranging 15 to 40 feet tall at the bottom of the Narrows, using conventional concrete demolition equipment from a barge platform.
Traffic will be unaffected by the work, which the Washington State Department of Transportation and contractor Manson-Mowat expect to complete in three months.
Manette and Bremerton residents who live near the bridge might hear construction noise as crews break down the piers located on each end of the structure.
“Once the piers are gone we’ll have fulfilled our environmental commitment to remove the old bridge in its entirety,” said Jeff Cook, WSDOT project engineer. “Removal will also minimize the amount of obstructions mariners have to navigate.”
During construction mariners will be advised to stay in the main navigable channel and should review Coast Guard alerts for other maritime restrictions in and through the work area.
Crews broke ground on this $60 million project in August 2010 and opened the new bridge to traffic November 2011. The above-water demolition of the bridge sections were completed in mid January. Removal of the piers is the final step to complete the new Manette Bridge project.
In addition to constructing a new, wider bridge, the Manette Bridge Replacement Project expanded the nearby Whitey Domstad Viewscape and built a new roundabout that improves traffic flows in Manette.
