THE GORGE — Delegates from the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge Authority are in Washington, D.C., this week, meeting with Oregon and Washington lawmakers, as well as key transportation leaders, to secure federal funding commitments essential to start a new span late in 2027.
Bridge replacement, including design, construction and demolition of the old structure, is projected to cost $1.12 billion.
“We have tremendous momentum,” project manager Mike Shannon told bridge authority members at their Sept. 8 meeting. That same day the authority received Washington State’s executed contract for $40 million, representing Washington’s current biennium contribution toward the state’s total funding commitment of $125 million. Oregon is matching that commitment for total bi-state funding of $250 million.
Reserve funds increase steadily, now standing at $7.3 million thanks to heavy traffic volume on the current bridge; the Port of Hood River routes those revenues directly to the bridge authority, dedicated for bridge replacement.
Federal funding includes a $200 million infrastructure grant awarded in January 2024, a pending $532 million request to the federal Bridge Investment Program, and a federal loan to be repaid by future bridge tolls. The core mission of this week’s trip is to support the bridge investment request.
This week’s conversations in the nation’s capital also will update Congressional staff and U.S. Department of Transportation officials of recent progress and emphasize how timely federal funding will provide the “last dollar” needed for project completion.
“Our Oregon and Washington delegation has played a major role in securing the federal commitments already in place,” said Parkdale resident Mike Fox, who co-chairs the bridge authority with Husum resident Jacob Anderson. “Along with USDOT, their backing has kept this much-needed project moving forward, and we value their continued support as we work to bring it across the finish line.”
In this week’s visit, delegates will describe how the bridge authority and its design firm, Kiewit Corporation, are emphasizing cost containment, such as modifying initial design concepts to reflect new information gleaned through 2023 core drillings to the river bed. Data from those drillings contributed to a significant increase in the estimated replacement cost, initially estimated at $520 million. The task now is to minimize any further escalation — including inflational impact should federal funding be delayed.
Final design will identify savings along the way. For instance, engineers will likely reduce the number of bridge piers to reflect information gleaned from those 2023 core samplings. It may also be possible to integrate steel casings used in pier construction as a permanent part of the bridge design, which would also reduce cost without compromising the structure’s integrity. (Additional core samplings, scheduled later this fall, will help determine the feasibility of that approach.)
“We’re not taking out any quality, but doing everything we can to save costs,” Fox explained.
Kiewit’s engineers are now proceeding with initial phase of bridge design, which will take into account a limited “in-water” period over the winter of 2027-28 when pier placement can occur without disrupting fisheries.
“One of the key things is to make that in-water window work for you,” Fox noted, in reference to how efficient design can reduce the time needed for pier construction.
In terms of the entire new structure, one important goal will be to obtain “100 percent” design timed to precede or coincide with assurance of federal funding no later than summer 2026. Construction would then commence with in-water work beginning in October 2027.
“If we get the funding, we will make 2027 happen,” Shannon told authority commissioners at the Sept. 8 meeting.
Thus the strategy for this week’s Congressional outreach: That this project will be ready to proceed, on track, on budget — no more surprises — toward completion in 2031, if and when the federal government steps up the plate.
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