Vernita Bridge resurfacing completed as construction season slows
Travel across the Vernita Bridge, pictured, should be a bit smoother after resurfacing of the bridge deck was completed this week. The bridge is often used by those traveling between the Mattawa area and the Tri-Cities.
R. HANS MILLER/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
MATTAWA — An ongoing project to resurface sections of state Route 24 reached the Vernita Bridge yesterday. The bridge was part of a regionwide chip-seal project and was resurfaced Wednesday and Thursday.
The construction season is winding down with schools back in session and fall dead ahead. Megan Lott, communications director for the Washington Department of Transportation south central region, said work will continue along SR 24 through the end of the construction season.
Grant County drivers will encounter delays on Road H Southeast, south of MarDon Resort, as construction crews continue a project that started in early August. Crews are rebuilding about 4.67 miles.
The existing surface is being excavated, the roadbed rebuilt where necessary and the road repaved. Grant County Engineer Dave Bren said in an earlier interview that some sections of the roadbed had settled, and when that happens the base layer in those sections be rebuilt.
Construction crews also continue to work on paving Road G.7 Northwest, which connects Road H Northwest to White Trail Road south of Quincy. That section wasn’t paved, but it will be when work is completed.
Bren said crews will grade the existing road, add more base material, if necessary, then two layers of asphalt and rock. It’s known as a gravel to oil project.
At the other end of SR 243, work continues 24/7 on the Vantage Bridge, and there are traffic restrictions as a result.
It’s the first year of a three-year reconstruction of the bridge deck, which was considerably deteriorated; in some spots the Columbia River was visible through the bridge surface. Construction crews are replacing the entire bridge deck, removing the deteriorating sections, installing precast replacement pieces and pouring concrete to connect the joints, Lott said. They're also making drainage improvements.
Throughout the summer work was suspended on weekends and both lanes were open, but now crews are working seven days per week through the end of the construction season.
One lane will be closed in each direction; there’s a 10-foot width restriction and a 40 miles per hour speed limit in the work zone. The width restriction for eastbound traffic begins at the junction of I-90 and Interstate 82 near Ellensburg.
The seven-day restrictions will be in place throughout most of the harvest season, something that farmers and businesses should consider, especially when shipping produce to the west side, according to Washington Department of Transportation officials.
Message boards and warning signs have been installed along I-90 to alert travelers to possible delays at the bridge.