The Green River bridge was restricted to one lane Monday morning and construction crews were on the scene, but the bad dreams of the bridge closing will not be returning according to the state Department of Transportation.
The Kent-based Scarsella Brothers construction crews were setting rocks in place on the southwest side of the span.
The workers were on the bridge at about 8:30 a.m. One lane was closed and a pilot car was used to guide traffic across.
According to an e-mail from Jamie Holter, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, WSDOT was, “putting some additional rock on the southwest side of the Green River Bridge at the request of King County.”
Holter wrote when the bridge repairs were completed in July the county requested WSDOT return and set more rock in place. WSDOT had just received the permits for the work, which is why the crews were working on the bridge today.
The plan is for the work to be completed by tomorrow, Tuesday, at 3 p.m.
Holter stated workers will be in the area at times for maintenance work, but if major problems or major repairs are necessary, WSDOT will notify the surrounding communities.
The bridge was closed November 2008 until July 2009 for repairs after WSDOT determined the bridge was unstable.
The state had been monitoring the bridge since 1995 and repairs were made during the summer of 2008.
Following a heavy rainstorm in November, the state decided the bridge was too unstable to handle the estimated 9,000 vehicles a day crossing over the Green River Gorge and the bridge was closed for extensive repairs to the south end of the structure.
According to the WSDOT Web site, a 160 foot retaining wall was embedded into the bedrock and horizontal drains were installed.
The work was completed June 26, 2009.
The slide show photos from WSDOT are of the stabilizing work on the bridge.
