October 9, 2024

Crews set bridge girders for SR 167 expressway

WSDOT photo, via Flickr [enlarge]

Two large cranes lift the 277,000-pound girders into place for a new bridge that will carry the future SR-167 expressway. Work continues this weekend.

Both directions of Interstate 5 between state Route 18 in Federal Way and 54th Avenue East in Fife are set to close nightly on Friday and Saturday as crews set bridge girders for the SR 167 Completion Project.

WSDOT issued a news release this week, warning that the northbound lanes will close by 10:30 p.m. and southbound lanes by 11 p.m. Lanes will begin reopening at 7 a.m. Saturday, with all lanes open by 11 a.m. On Sunday, lanes will begin to reopen at 8 a.m., with all lanes open by noon.

Closures are also scheduled for Oct. 18 and 19.

Crews have been at work setting the 15 girders for a new bridge that will carry the future SR-167 expressway over I-5 at the Fife curve.

WSDOT says the girders are 222 feet, 9 inches long, making them the second longest pre-cast concrete girders in the world. (The longest is a 223-foot girder on southbound I-5 over the Puyallup River.)

The girders were made in Tacoma at Concrete Technology Corp. Each girder weighs about 277,000 pounds. Too long and heavy for a regular semi-trailer, WSDOT says that each had to be moved in on the trailer of a semi, with the tail end on a another vehicle with its own driver. This way, they could control either end independently as they traveled north up closed lanes of I-5.

Then two large cranes lift the girders and set them into place.

Work is part of the second stage (known as Stage 1b) of the project to build the SR 167/I-5 to SR 509 New Expressway. Guy F. Atkinson Inc. was awarded a $376 million contract for the Stage 1b work, which includes: a new 2-mile highway to link I-5 to SR-509 near the Port of Tacoma, a diverging diamond interchange over I-5 which will connect to the future SR-167 Expressway, new interchanges at I-5 and 54th Avenue east, and a new 2.5-mile shared-use path from SR-99 to Alexander Avenue East.

Work on this phase began in the summer of 2022.

In August, Atkinson was awarded a $177.7 million contract for the third stage (Stage 2a) of the work. It's also the third SR-167 project contract for Atkinson. Work on Stage 2a will widen SR-167 from SR-161/North Meridian Avenue in Puyallup to SR-410 near Sumner. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025 and finish in 2027.

A fourth, future stage (Stage 2b) is scheduled for 2026-2029, and will build SR-167 between the Puyallup Recreation Center and I-5, complete the diverging diamond interchange at I-5, build six new bridges, a new half-interchange at Valley Avenue, build the rest of the trail and perform 113 acres of wetland mitigation and restoration.

The SR 167 Completion Project is part of the larger, $2.69 billion Puget Sound Gateway Program, which also includes the SR 509 Completion Project. WSDOT says this will complete two major unfinished highways in the region, creating new connections to I-5, the ports of Tacoma and Seattle, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Related Stories:

• Final stage is set for SR 509 Completion Project  09-27-2024