KENNEWICK, Wash.-- The Washington State Department of Transportation confirmed Sunday night that the Blue Bridge northbound lane closures will be extended another day.
The bridge construction has left many drivers frustrated since the closure began Friday morning. Many are having to wait in traffic and others are finding detours around the Tri-Cities.
Workers are replacing expansion joints on the bridge and found the new joints turned out to be a little bigger than they had anticipated. The old joints have been there for nearly thirty years. Now, the new joints are in place but they still need to be sealed in by concrete.
"For the fresh concrete, in order to get that strength needed before opening up to traffic is going to take a minimum of about 12 hours. For that reason the opening of the northbound lanes has been delayed," said Moe Davari, WSDOT Project Manager.
Davari said workers will continue through the night. For safety reasons the concrete needs the extra time to solidify.
WSDOT said they don't expect any delays for the southbound construction because they now know about the joints issue. Southbound lane construction starts Monday night at 8pm reducing them to just one lane overnight until 5:30am. Night construction continues through Wednesday.
Full closures on that side will Thursday night and go through Monday morning at 5:30am.
