Seattle Begins Taking Bids To Fix Cracked Bridge

SEATTLE (AP) – The Seattle Department of Transportation has begun recruiting construction firms to strengthen the cracked West Seattle Bridge.

It’s scheduled to reopened for traffic in mid-2022.

City engineers estimate the contract value at $48 million.

The winning team will write a final design and hire subcontractors before work on the concrete structure resumes in November.

The bid kickoff comes as Seattle approaches the anniversary of the bridge’s emergency closure.

That’s when engineers concluded that cracks might lead to a collapse if traffic continued.

The damage began as tiny hairline cracks seven years earlier.

The city didn’t perceive them as a safety threat until early 2020.