WSDOT clears reopening of I-5 bridge over Skagit River following Wednesday’s semi crash
Both directions of Interstate 5 have reopened after they were closed Wednesday morning, Dec. 9, at the Skagit River bridge following a non-injury crash. Northbound and southbound traffic was closed so that Washington State Department of Transportation inspectors could assess if any damage was done to the bridge.
WSDOT announced the reopening of the freeway in a tweet at 11:16 a.m. that included photos showing the damage to the barrier of the southbound portion along the right shoulder of the bridge and a metal barrier leading up to it.
“Our bridge inspectors have been working diligently through the morning. We did not observe any damage aside from scrapes to the barrier,” WSDOT said in a tweet.
The barrier was damaged when a semitruck headed southbound on the freeway hit the barrier and broke its front axle, according to a tweet by Washington State Trooper Heather Axtman made at 4:47 a.m. Wednesday. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, Axtman reported.
“The roadway is fully blocked,” Axtman tweeted at the time. “Unknown ETA for reopening. Please avoid the area. The detour will be at George Hopper Rd.”
A follow-up tweet by Axtman at 7:21 a.m. said that inspectors had arrived on scene and more were on their way and that northbound I-5 also had been shut down.
WSDOT called for more inspectors from Olympia to examine the bridge, further extending the length of time the bridge was closed.
“Please plan for a long term closure of the Skagit River Bridge today,” a Washington State Department of Transportation tweet at 9:01 a.m. read. “Our team is heading up from Olympia to inspect the bridge.”
WSDOT said that northbound traffic was closed between East College Way (milepost 227) and George Hopper Road (milepost 229), as traffic had to be diverted around or over the river using other roads in the area.
WSDOT traffic cameras showed northbound traffic backed up more than two miles to Anderson Road and southbound traffic backed up beyond the State Route 20 interchange.
This was not the first time the bridge over the Skagit River has been closed after being hit by a semi.
On May 23, 2013, a trucker was hauling an oversize load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over the bridge. The bridge collapsed into the river, and though two cars fell into the water below, nobody was killed and three people in those cars escaped with only minor injuries.
But the loss of Whatcom and Skagit counties’ major artery south impacted travelers and commerce, as WSDOT had to set up detours around the collapsed bridge and initially led to hours-long delays. A temporary bridge was built in mid-June to alleviate that stress while a replacement bridge was built and later slid into place.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found the trucker in the 2013 incident felt “crowded” by another truck driver in the next lane and moved closer to the side of the bridge that had less clearance, causing his load to hit a truss, which caused the collapse.
Overall, the incident cost $19.8 million to repair. The Washington State Supreme Court in 2019 upheld a $17 million lawsuit filed in 2015 by the state against the truck driver, his carrier, a pilot car operator and others to regain some of those costs, according to a Nov. 1, 2019 story published by trucking publication Landline.com.
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 7:46 AM.
