Highway 12’s Snake River bridge gets an inspection

Traffic on Highway 12 will be interrupted periodically the week of April 4 while inspectors evaluate the Snake River bridge.

The Washington Department of Transportation said the routine inspection will close one eastbound lane on April 4-5 and one westbound lane April 6-7. Over-width vehicles will be prohibited during the westbound lane closure.

The Snake River bridge is one 145 state-owned bridges that were rated as structurally deficient in January. Built in 1986, the steel truss bridge is on an enhanced schedule for monitoring because of cracking in its steel floor beams.

The only other structurally deficient state-owned bridge in the Tri-Cities is the Interstate 82 Columbia River bridge at Umatilla. It is set for rehabilitation because of a deteriorating concrete deck.

A structurally deficient rating reflects normal wear and tear and does not mean a bridge is unsafe.

Washington has roughly 7,000 bridges on state, county and city corridors. Most are inspected every two years.

This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Highway 12’s Snake River bridge gets an inspection."