Hood Canal Bridge

The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is a floating bridge in the northwest United States, located in western Washington. It carries State Route 104 across Hood Canal and connects the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. At in length (floating portion ), it is the longest floating bridge in the world located in a saltwater tidal basin, and the third longest floating bridge overall. First opened in 1961, it was the second concrete floating bridge constructed in Washington. Since that time, it has become a vital link for local residents, freight haulers, commuters, and recreational travelers. The convenience it provides has had a major impact on economic development, especially in eastern Jefferson County.

The bridge is officially named after William A. Bugge (1900–1992), the director of the Department of Highways from 1949 to 1963, who was a leader in the planning and construction of the bridge.

History

Design, fabrication, and construction

The design and planning process for the Hood Canal Bridge took nearly a decade amid criticism from some engineers throughout that time. Critics questioned the use of floating pontoons over salt water, especially at a location with high tide fluctuations and the concern that the funneling effect of the Hood Canal might magnify the intensity of winds and tides. The depth of the water, however, made construction of support columns for other bridge types prohibitively expensive. The water depth below the pontoons ranges from . In its marine environment, the bridge is exposed to tidal swings of .

The pontoons for the bridge were fabricated in the Duwamish Waterway in Seattle; during fabrication, two of the pontoons sank. When they were attached for the first time, and then towed into place and anchored, sea conditions in the Hood Canal were too severe and the pontoons were returned to a nearby bay until a better method of attaching could be devised. The structural engineers and the contractor decided the design was faulty. A new contractor was hired and the design modified. It was decided to use a large rubber dam between each of the two pontoons as they were attached, clean the concrete surfaces of all marine growth, epoxy, and tension them with a number of cables welded to a variety of attachment points. This system seemed to work from when the bridge opened in 1961 until the disaster of 1979.

The eastern approach span weighs more than 3,800 tons (3,400 tonnes) and the western approach span weighs more than 1,000 tons (907 tonnes)

1979 sinking

The Hood Canal Bridge suffered catastrophic failure in 1979 during the February 13 windstorm. During the night, the bridge had withstood sustained winds of up to and gusts estimated at , and finally succumbed at about 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, The western drawspan and the pontoons of the western half had broken loose and sunk, despite the drawspan being opened to relieve lateral pressure.

At the time of the failure, the bridge had been closed to highway traffic and the tower crew had evacuated; no casualties resulted. Evidence points to blown-open hatches allowing flooding of the pontoons as the cause of the sinking.

West-half reconstruction and 1982 re-opening

Efforts to repair the bridge began immediately and Washington Secretary of Transportation William A. Bulley secured a commitment of federal emergency relief money for the project. On June 15, 1979, actual work began with the removal of the west truss and transport for storage. The state's department of transportation attempted to mitigate the impact of the disaster by redirecting traffic to US Highway 101 to drive around the length of Hood Canal

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases