The Washington State Dept. of Transportation escaped one last schedule hurdle in its planned opening of the new, $519.8-million state Route 120 Hood Canal Bridge, thanks in part to the ample time allotted for functional testing of the new west-half lift span.
The eastern half of the 1.5-mile crossing, which includes one of 11 permanent floating bridges in the world, opened last year after a 15-month delay due to the discovery of an ancient Native American village at the site of a planned graving dock. It connects the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, which are 60 miles north of Seattle.