Tacoma Narrows Bridge Waits for Delayed Expansion Joint
The first of two 100-ton expansion joints destined for the 5,400-ft-long new Tacoma Narrows Bridge is stuck in transit because it exceeds Washington State Dept. of Transportation weight limits. Halted on March 19, the joint now sits in a WashDOT maintenance facility 10 miles from the Washington-Idaho border until the hauler reconfigures the load.
WashDOT’s office of commercial vehicles had approved a permit based on plans submitted by the hauler and the Minnesota office of D.S. Brown Co., the North Baltimore, Ohio-based subcontractor supplying the joint. “When the hauler got to the Washington-Idaho border, the load neither conformed to the permit application originally submitted nor to the permit requirements as issued,” says Claudia Cornish, spokesman for WashDOT.