At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, April 23-25, crews working for the Washington State Department of Transportation will close two of four westbound state Route 16 lanes across the 1950 Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The two lanes will remain closed until 6 a.m. each following morning. The two remaining westbound lanes will stay open through each night.

During the lane closures, crews will install temporary work access platforms and remove original steel rivets from the bridge’s westernmost expansion joint in preparation for replacing it. Crews will remove the rivets using pneumatic rivet busters. The heads of the rivets will be sheared off and the remaining rivet stems will be punched out of the steel joint. Crews will then replace the rivets with bolts. The work will be enclosed and all loosened steel pieces will be contained.

WSDOT asks nearby residents for their tolerance and understanding during this work, as it is expected to be noisy. Crews will work as quickly as possible to complete the work.

Replacing the westernmost expansion joint will occur over an extended weekend, the date for which will be announced when plans are finalized.  Doing the preparatory work before the extended weekend will help the contractor work more efficiently within the limited weekend timeframe.

Drivers can check travel conditions and learn about upcoming construction by downloading the WSDOT mobile app, visiting tacomatraffic.com, or by dialing 5-1-1.

·       WSDOT’s mobile app page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/products/

·       WSDOT’s Tacoma traffic page: www.wsdot.com/traffic/tacoma/default.aspx