WSDOT shuts down 103-year-old bridge in Pierce County, WA
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. - The century-old Carbon River Fairfax bridge in Pierce County is shutting down due to concerns over structural integrity.
WSDOT announced on Monday that they are shutting down all pedestrian and vehicle access to the bridge.
The backstory:
Previously, the bridge had lane restrictions and a stop on EMS vehicles from using it for their responses.
Built in 1921, the bridge exceeds the usually-expected 75-year service life of bridges in Washington.
Dig deeper:
The average age of state-owned bridges is 51 years.
"There is no funding available to replace the bridge at this point. Years of deferred preservation work due to limited preservation funding resulted in the updated weight restrictions and now the indefinite closure," says a representative with WSDOT on their website.
The Source: Information for this article comes from the Washington Department of Transportation in Tacoma.
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