Bridge closures starting Sept. 21

HOOD RIVER — Travelers will contend with two upcoming rounds of Hood River-White Salmon Bridge closures beginning Sept. 21 and continuing into early October, according to the Port of Hood River.

Separate companies are performing various maintenance tasks over two periods. The first of these will be mechanical and electrical (M&E) work to maintain the bridge lift system. The second project will help keep the bridge operational until a new bridge is completed as early as 2032.

The initial M&E project consists of full overnight closures (midnight to 6 a.m.) on Sept. 21-24. In addition, there will be daytime traffic interruptions between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sept. 21-23. The port estimated most traffic stops will last about 15 minutes, but longer delays of up to an hour are possible from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. each day.

The M&E work consolidates several previously identified scopes of work into a single package, as submitted by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) in July. The combined $417,457 project includes mechanical and electrical inspection and strain gage testing, preparation of mechanical and electrical operations and maintenance manuals (current manuals either do not exist or are difficult to use), and assessment of mechanical risk concerns. Risk assessment focuses on how lift span traffic weight is not properly distributed to bridge piers, with some of the load instead carried by bridge machinery. That leads to stress on the equipment needed to operate the lift span. WJE will evaluate load bearings and develop repair plans.

“Although this is a low-risk priority item, its implementation will improve ride quality,” the company explained in its July 27 proposal to the port.

The company will develop a method to reduce operating loads should a lift span operation be stopped in an emergency. Finally, WJE will lubricate the bridge’s 16 counterweight cables and conduct one night of operational training. (One of these trainings was scheduled earlier but delayed because of high winds.)

“For an aging and mechanically complex structure such as the Hood River–White Salmon Bridge, this type of work is particularly important,” said the port’s director of real estate, Amanda Rose, in her Aug. 18 presentation to the port commission. “This work is important because it addresses the systems that allow the lift span to safely and reliably operate.” Port commissioners approved the WJE contract at that meeting. WJE is based in Northbrook, Illinois, with an office in Portland.

The subsequent full overnight closures are from Sept. 29 to Oct. 12, Mondays through Fridays from midnight to 5:30 a.m. These closures are for bridge coatings to be conducted by ABHE & Svoboda, Inc., headquartered in Jordan, Minnesota. Port commissioners approved the $625,885 contract in June, one of two bids received in response to an invitation to bid in May. This work includes miscellaneous steel repairs, replacement of a bridge safety “lifeline” system, and routine maintenance coatings.

The port advises drivers to plan ahead, expect delays and use an alternate route during full closures.

Contingent on federal funding, bridge replacement is scheduled to begin in October 2027, led by the Hood River–White Salmon Bridge Authority, a separate entity from the port.