HOOD RIVER, Ore. — The Hood River Bridge will remain closed to all traffic through the weekend following a crash involving a semi-truck that caused "severe damage" and impacted some of the bridge's structural beams on Thursday.
The bridge is closed in both directions until further notice, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. Drivers looking to cross the Columbia River will need to detour to either Cascade Locks or The Dalles.
The Port of Hood River, which operates the crossing, said it will receive a report and recommendations during a public meeting Sunday morning from HDR Engineering, which has been the engineer of record for structural components of the bridge since 2014. During the meeting, officials will discuss a potential reopening of the bridge, including a proposed schedule for repairs. Before the meeting, Kiewit Infrastructure West will conduct an independent review of HDR's findings.
"All engineering and construction contracts will be executed under emergency procurement provisions," the commission said in a statement. "The decision to reopen vehicular traffic across the bridge will be determined based on the engineering reports presented to the commission."
The Port of Hood River said the next update will be released shortly after Sunday's meeting.
Kevin Greenwood, with the Port of Hood River, said they received a report around 10:15 a.m. Thursday that a semi-truck with a flatbed trailer carrying an excavator had crossed the bridge with the excavator's arm not properly lowered. "And so, the elbow basically cut through portions of six different lateral braces above the traveling," he said.
A message on the port's website specified that the damage is on the lift span at the center of the crossing.
Greenwood also said that once the port identified the issue, the bridge was immediately closed. Elected officials across multiple counties including Hood River were notified of the closure around 10:30 a.m. Engineers began inspections Thursday afternoon.
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As for when the bridge will reopen, Greenwood said that the main priority is safety and that there are a number of components that must be considered before reopening the bridge. "There's just a lot of elements that the engineers need to do calculations on, before we feel comfortable opening the bridge again," he said.
Greenwood mentioned that the bridge closure is a huge disruption not only to daily life for locals, but considering the Fourth of July holiday coming up, also for the trucks of cherries trying to come through Hood River for processing.
The Oregon Department of Transportation said the nearest crossings across the Columbia River are The Dalles Bridge to the east and the Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks to the west.
Both the Hood River Bridge and the Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks are owned by local government and the respective ports in each bridge's jurisdiction. The states of Oregon and Washington don't own or oversee these bridges.
The century-old bridge is the only river crossing for 20 miles in either direction, but it's extremely narrow by modern standards; Greenwood told KGW last year that the two lanes are so narrow that there have been previous incidents in which passing trucks have locked up mid-span, wedged together between the guardrails on either side.
A $520 million replacement project for the Hood River Bridge is in the works, with construction planned to start in early 2026 and the new bridge set to open in 2029.
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