Road crew assesses damage to U.S. 101

ELIZABETH LEIS, THE OLYMPIAN

Drivers heeding the call of the open road may want to avoid the Shelton area of U.S. Highway 101.

Although the highway is open, a section above Madrona Beach Road is narrowed to one lane as a state road crew evaluates damages from Wednesday's magnitude 6.8 earthquake.

A crew, led by Washington Department of Transportation Operations Superintendent Ron Bashon, worked all day Saturday assessing damages along the corridor. Repair costs are estimated at $200,000.

The crew was doing exploratory drilling to see if they hit bedrock.

"The idea is to make sure it's stable," Bashon said. "We need to determine what we design or repair has a solid foundation."

Once the drilling is complete, the crew will have a better idea of the length of time needed for repair. Eight feet of mud and silt need to be cleaned out in the section, which sits below the highway. Beneath the debris is a culvert.

"We don't know if that culvert is structurally sound," Bashon said.

In addition to the drilling, the crew also might use a pisometer, an instrument to measure earth movement, Bashon said.

Approximately 11,000 cars pass along the section each day, he said.

"This is the best crew I've worked with in 55 years," he said.

Other structural investigations Saturday included damage assessment of the Fourth Avenue bridge. Bridge engineer Dave Goodyear and state bridge project manager John Van Lund were investigating how the bridge's columns behaved.

The columns hinged, meaning the reinforcement bars yielded and bent, Van Lund said.

"It dissipates energy if they're creaking and yielding," he said.

Traffic to the west side from downtown is being detoured to the Fifth Avenue bridge.

The Olympian Copyright 2000

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