The in basket: Dan Godecke asks about a series of cameras he understood would be installed along Highway 3 between its interchange with Highway 305 and the Hood Canal Bridge. They were to allow people to go online and see how bad congestion was, particularly during closures of the bridge to vehicle traffic, such as when a ship was passing through the draw span.

The project was done instead of creating a through lane on Highway 3 leading to the bridge that would allow vehicles not heading to the bridge but needing to proceed north a way past all the waiting cars, he said.

Dan still would much prefer an extra lane to get past the bridge closure lineups, but he’d like to access the images from the cameras to see if they will help. He wonders why the images aren’t available online.

The out basket: Kelly Stowe of the state transportation department says the cameras are all installed, but the state is ‘”currently working with local phone companies to establish communications from the highway to our Traffic Management Center (TMC) that is located in Parkland (in Pierce County).” Parkland is where all the cameras in the seven-county Olympic Region, including Kitsap, are managed.

“This communication between the camera on the highway and TMC is necessary for (drivers) to ultimately see the cameras on our Traffic Alerts page,” she said..

“Once the communication issues have been resolved, a field inspection and certification of the system will have to occur so we can ensure the camera images are stable before they are made public via the Web,” Kelly said. “It will still be a few more weeks before these camera images are made available to the public but our technicians are working on it.”

The in basket: While I was visiting with State Project Engineer Jeff Cook and his assistant, Andy Larson recently, researching a column on Manette Bridge access, I learned of a couple of state projects I either had no idea were coming, or about which I lacked the most current information.

The out basket: As early as the week of Oct. 4, drivers on the Warren Avenue Bridge in Bremerton at night will find work under way to raise both the inside and outside railings on the bridge.

The railings will be the same height and both will be taller than they are now when the 42-working-day project is complete, they said.

The work will be done at night, to minimize complications from the fact that the Manette Bridge is subject to intermittent closures while its replacement is built.

“The barrier replacement is part of a larger effort to bring traffic barrier up to current standards,” Jeff said.

He also tells me work is progressing on putting nine cameras and three Highway Advisory Radio systems along Highway 3 between Poulsbo and the Hood Canal Bridge. When finished, people at home or with wi-fi in their vehicle will be able to see or hear whether traffic is backed up and how far should the bridge be closed to traffic.

Lastly, Andy and Jeff filled me in on next year’s cliff stabilization work, which they call “rock scaling,” on Highway 3 between Gorst and Bremerton.

Loose rock will be pried out by pry bars or via big air bags that will push the rock out when inflated, they said. They are similar to the air bags that lift collapsed slabs of buildings to rescue trapped people, Jeff said.

Andy said dowels will be inserted into other more stable rock to hold it in place as well as the metal curtain that will be draped over the cliff to  further prevent falling rock from getting into traffic. Similar screen can be seen on cliffs in Snoqualmie Pass and down by Aberdeen.

Sections of the center concrete barrier dividing the highway below the cliffs  will be removed and traffic moved toward the railroad tracks during the work, Andy said.

The in basket: Douglas Janachek, who lives near the Hood Canal Bridge, raises one new and one time-honored complaint about it. Larry Hilberg, another resident of the area, joins in the new one, unexpected noise levels.

“The new bridge creates a much louder noise when large trucks go over it than the old bridge did,” Douglas says. “It seems that when trucks hit the grated area on the approach there is a rather loud boom that is very noticeable. Just wondering if that can be addressed by the state highway department.”

Larry describes it as “ thundering and pounding noises being heard 24/7.  Depending

on the vehicle size and volume of traffic, the thundering noise is continuous at varying levels.”

Douglas also raises the historic complaint about delays and confusion over what drivers should do when the bridge’s center span opens and vehicle traffic stops. 

“Are there any plans to widen the road to allow traffic that is not driving over the bridge to proceed through the traffic light and not have to wait in line for drivers that are heading over the bridge?” he asked. “It is frustrating to be only a few cars back in line trying to drive to Port Gamble and be stuck in traffic that is stopped for the bridge opening.”

In the meantime, he said, “A few signs telling people to pull over would help when heading from Port Gamble toward Poulsbo.  Last weekend for instance, all the cars were in the travel lane – so most locals passed on the left onto oncoming traffic (not much because the bridge was closed) and hoped for the best.  This happens all the time.”

The out basket: Yes, the state has “addressed” the added noise at the new bridge, but only to explain it. They say they can’t correct it like they did back in the mid-’90s, when they revised the grates on the eastern transition span so trucks didn’t create such a din crossing onto the bridge.

Now, says Joe Irwin of the bridge staff, “the sound is being caused when vehicles run over the new expansion joints on the east half.  These 3-inch wide, recessed joints play a vital role in maintaining the bridge’s structural integrity.  They allow its concrete roadway sections to expand and contract as the concrete warms and cools. The joints also allow the bridge to move slightly during weather events, ensuring that the concrete roadway sections don’t (damage) one another.

 ‘The expansion joints are rectangular, rubber seals (and) must be slightly recessed in relation to the roadway to make certain they are not torn up by studded tires,” he said. “There simply isn’t a feasible mitigation alternative that can be accomplished in a fiscally reasonable way.”  

As for traffic left waiting when the center span opens, “design, environmental and financial issues” have prevented any highway widening to help those drivers, Joe said.  

 “With this in mind,” he said, the state “has increased its communication efforts in the Kitsap and Jefferson county areas near the bridge, providing better signage and real-time alerts about marine vessel openings that help travelers better prepare their trips.  More than 1,000 people have signed up to receive these alerts.”

 “We have been asked why our text alerts aren’t sent out before the bridge opens instead of after the fact,” he said. “This is tied into security decisions made after 9/11 that help ensure the safety of drivers and boaters. 

 “People are experiencing a higher number of marine vessel openings than usual as (we) and our contractor Kiewit-General of Poulsbo complete ongoing construction efforts at the bridge,” he said.  “We didn’t want to delay the June reopening of the bridge to accomplish these tasks, but they need to continue throughout the summer and into the fall to get the bridge in shape for winter and assure optimal performance in the future.

 “The bridge work is on schedule to conclude by the end of the year and when it does traffic on (highways) 3 and 104 will return to its pre-construction levels.  We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we wrap up the final stages of work to ensure the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas have a wider, safer, more reliable bridge for decades to come,” Joe said.

The in basket: Jim Hollenback e-mailed to say, “Been meaning to write for a while. During the re-opening ceremonies for the Hood Canal bridge, it was mentioned that Washington state has four floating bridges. I can only think of three, I-90, SR520 and SR104. What is the fourth one?”

While I was asking state officials Jim’s question, I added a few of my own. The new bridge has a two sections of metal grating roadway near its center, separated by a fairly lengthy stretch of concrete driving surface. And it has two control towers, one on each side of where it opens for boat traffic. I couldn’t recall whether the old bridge had two towers. I asked why two are needed and the reason for the grated surface.

Lastly, I asked about a row of yellow floats shaped like oil drums, but much larger, that stretch across Hood Canal a good distance north of the bridge, wondering if they are permanent or somehow related to the bridge job.

The out basket: Becky Hixson and Joe Irwin of the bridge public relations staff provided the answers.

As I suspected, the I-90 bridge comprises two of the four floating bridges, named the Lacey Murrow and Homer Hadley floating bridges. The other two are the 520 bridge further north in Lake Washington and, of course, the one across Hood Canal. 

The grated section of the new Hood Canal bridge make those sections lighter in weight so they can be lifted to allow the intervening concrete sections to retract beneath them, opening the center span. The old bridge did have two control towers. Both are needed, says Joe, because “crews must be able to operate the bridge from either side during storm conditions.”

Lastly, he said, the row of floats are spring buoys “that support an anchor line for one of the derrick barges still working at the bridge site and prevents it from coming into contact with, or damaging a power cable that runs along the floor of the canal.” 

The floats will be removed when all work on the bridge is complete, he said.