I was wondering about the timing of upcoming low tides and excavation of the streambed.  The tide chart tells us why there was noisy night work on Monday night.  The daytime low tides don't appear to give crews enough time to prepare the streambed.  A county worker I talked to today told me she thought the night work could last a few nights.  Hmmmmm...

Sure enough, work has been going on during the days AND nights this week.  Dump trucks are exchanging good dirt for the brick-infested muck in the bridge channel.  Excavators clatter over the steel plates, arranging the good dirt to receive rock for the new streambed.  Crews will leave the old road bed as access for cranes, etc. until after the girders are in place.  These are scheduled to arrive on September 17.  Can't wait to see just HOW they will get those big long I-beams down the road and around the corners!!!

Forms were built for the concrete wall between the pedestrian ramp and the roadway.  These walls are thicker than the fascia that has been installed so far.  Concrete trucks come this Friday. 

These plans are interesting to study for bridge geeks like us!  Notice how the streambed meanders below the bridge on the second page. 

Week of September 14, 2026

Crews have removed all the forms for pouring concrete for the walls.  The crane was moved off the bridge approach.  On the morning of Thursday, September 17, the 7 girders for the bridge span will arrive.  It should be quite a show to see them navigate along the road and around our tight corners!  

Thursday the 17th was a big day!  7  concrete girders 120 feel long, 4 feet 9 inches wide, weighing 140,000-160,000 pounds each (depending on who you talk to) were delivered and installed before 2 pm.  As each girder truck rounded the corner at Harper Pier, there was approximately 1 foot of "wiggle room."  Traffic was held up along the journey through town and at the bridge area.  

The driver  in the small cab at the back navigated the corners on the drive from Tacoma, and steered the load as it was backed onto the original road bed, parallel to the bridge.  Each end of each girder had a loop.  In the video, you can see the reddish part sticking up.  Each crane connected to these loops with a hefty shackle bolt.  (Yellow circled area in photo, below, right.) The girder was lifted ever so slowly up and into its place on the piers.  It's hard to believe that a pair of loops and bolts bore the weight of a girder! 

Two girders have green rebar sticking up.  They were placed on the south edge and the north edge of the bridge.  This is where the railings will attach.  The other girders are flat.

There were many visitors watching the construction:  Kitsap County Public Works employees (both active and retired), engineers from multiple entities, neighbors and bridge advocates (Jim H watched the process from start to finish!), and even kingfishers, seals, and jumping salmon watched our bridge piers joined!  I'm sure the salmon are even more excited to pass under the bridge than Paul L!

Word is that workers will "punch a hole" into the original road bed next week and open the channel.  Another big event!

Week of September 21, 2026

Crews dug up the old road bed and put the dirt (and bricks!) into dump trucks this week.  The first photo shows what is left of the original causeway on Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday afternoon, sea water flowed freely under the bridge without the aid of the old culvert or the temporary pipe!  A "beach" slopes from the end of the pedestrian ramp to the water.   A happy day for salmon!