Two Sumner Bridges Slated for Replacement

With bridge safety on the minds of many in the wake of last month's Skagit River bridge collapse, the city of Sumner reports it is looking to replace the Bridge Street bridge, perhaps best known for its festive lights during the holiday season, and the Stewart Road bridge at Stewart Road and 8th Street.  

The Tacoma News Tribune reports Monday the city had already secured funding for the 93-year-old Bridge Street bridge replacement prior to the Skagit River bridge falling through federal grant money plus the city's street fund. The replacement could start as early as 2015 for the functionally obsolete and structurally deficient bridge. Price tag was $12 million. Its replacement was initially announced in December 2012.

Sumner announced last week the additional $1.2 million in funding for the Stewart Road bridge which was rated functionally obsolete to be able to meet current traffic demands. Actual replacement for that bridge is a few more years down the line with a price tag of $14 million.

City officials said the Bridge Street bridge was also fracture critical, meaning the entire structure can fail in the event of serious impact, as was the Skagit River bridge. Because of that, a weight and height limit was placed on vehicles traveling the Bridge Street bridge last year.

The Seattle Times last week reported there were seven bridges in the state that resembled the Skagit River bridge in that they were both fracture critical and had lower clearance. 

Nearby, the White River bridge connecting Buckley and Enumclaw over SR 410 was on the list of seven. 

In Washington, 1,624 out of 7,627 total bridges were deemed functionally obsolete by the Federal Highway Administration in 2009, including 119 in Pierce County. Another 22 of Pierce County's bridges were classified as structurally deficient, meaning a certain component needs repair or replacement. A bridge deemed structurally deficient is not necessarily in danger of collapse, according to WSDOT.

Some of the structurally deficient bridges in this area, as classified by WSDOT, include:

• State Route 165 at Gulch No. 1 - milepost 12 (monitored through inspections)
  
• State Route 167 at Puyallup River Bridge (prioritized for replacement).
  
• State Route 410 at PSPL Co. Canal - milepost 22 (monitored through inspections)