Maritime vessels on the Duwamish Waterway will have limited access under the Spokane St Swing Bridge May 13-17

Between 1 AM Saturday, May 13 and 1 AM Wednesday, May 17, maritime vessels will have limited access under the Spokane St Swing Bridge to navigate the Duwamish Waterway. We do not expect impacts to people driving, walking, or biking.

During this time, only the east span (side) of the bridge will swing open and closed for maritime vessels on the Duwamish Waterway.

A photo of the Spokane St Swing Bridge as it swings open for a maritime vessel on the Duwamish Waterway. We’re working inside the bridge May 13-17, 2023 to service hydraulic pumps. During this work, only the east side of the bridge will swing open for maritime vessels.

We’ve been communicating with the U.S. Coast Guard about this work, which will limit when some larger vessels can pass through.

This work is necessary for us to perform service and inspection on one of the bridge’s hydraulic pumps. The bridge has three hydraulic pump units at each pier to push hydraulic fluid to the bridge’s cylinders, allowing the cylinders to lift and swing the bridge open and closed.

We’re completing maintenance on all the hydraulic pump units for both piers in 2023. We’re starting with the west side of the bridge and will return later in 2023 to work on the east side.

A graphic showing the components that lift and rotate the bridge for openings. The lift cylinder lifts the bridge. The hydraulic pumps pump the fluid that lifts and turns the cylinders. The turn cylinders rotate the bridge span, allowing it to open and close. The communications and controls system activates the bridge components, allowing it to swing open and closed.

The Spokane St Swing Bridge continues to operate as expected since completing repairs earlier this year. We have more work planned for 2023, including rehabilitating the east side lift cylinder and upgrading the bridge’s control and communications system. For more details on this work, see our project factsheet.

We’ll continue to share updates about upcoming work through this email list and on the Spokane St Swing Bridge webpage.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WASEATTLE/bulletins/359f444