PORTLAND, Ore. — Overnight lane closures start tonight on the Interstate Bridge in preparation for for next month's Trunnion Replacement Project.
That replacement project will close the northbound span Sept. 12-21. The Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) most recent pre-pandemic traffic counts say more than 135,000 vehicles a day use the bridge. ODOT and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) urge drivers to use mass transit, change their commute times, routes or plan for major delays.
The barge carrying new bridge parts and the crane needed for their installation has been anchored in the Columbia River next to the Interstate Bridge since last week. For the next four nights, ODOT will be preparing the median to allow traffic to crossover to the southbound span next month.
Monday night through Thursday, crews will be installing signs and starting to build the temporary structures underneath the bridge’s lift span that support the bridge during construction.
Single-lane closures start at 8 p.m. and double-lane closures begin at 10 p.m. All lanes are scheduled to be reopened by 5 a.m. the next morning.
This crossover is necessary as the northbound span will close completely for nine days in September while crews replace crucial parts in the south tower’s lift span.
Those include a trunnion -or axle- on which a 12-foot wheel -or sheave- turns and cranks the steel cables up and down during bridge lifts.
Before and after the September closure, ODOT says to expect nighttime lane closures on Interstate 5, up to 30-minute bridge lifts on I-5 northbound and nighttime ramp closures between Victory Boulevard and State Route 14.
