Traffic was snarled on Sunday by a seven hour closure of the Hood Canal Bridge, one of the only routes westward for weekend travelers getting out to the peninsula to enjoy the summer weather. A mistake made by a work crew caused the normally level deck of the bridge to list sharply to one side, preventing cars from crossing the bridge.
The source of the problem: one of four hydraulic valves was left shut, causing the bridge to tilt precariously. To fix the bridge, workers had to be sent in from Olympia to crank it by hand, a long process that left many motorists stranded and unable to reach their destinations on time.
Business owners in Kingston told reporters that Sunday was an unusually slow day for tourist destinations. Many businesses in the area rely on revenue from tourist traffic during the summer. Businesses in Port Gamble, on the other side of the closed bridge, did a brisk business from tourists unable to reach their planned destinations.
Image source: The Washington State Department of Transit
SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge is closed to vehicle & marine traffic until further notice due to mechanical malfunction on west half of bridge.
— WSDOT Tacoma Traffic (@wsdot_tacoma) July 10, 2016
Crews are working to manually close the west end of the Hood Canal Bridge, there is no current ETA for reopening. pic.twitter.com/VdZ7E2MjS5
— Washington State DOT (@wsdot) July 10, 2016
The Hood Canal Bridge has re-opened to traffic.
— Washington State DOT (@wsdot) July 10, 2016
Hi, Kate! Isn’t it amazing to see the places our shoes can take us in our memoirs? Thanks for your kind comments about the exercise and about BREAK THE SKIN. Good luck with your memoir. Does it have anything to do with the restless desperation of a lonely woman?
i wonder if someone could post some vid or print of mcenroe threating line judges with violence.you can't do that no matter who you are. i see blown calls all the time in pro sports and rarely do i see or hear threats of violence and when it is done the perpetrators are disciplined.off side in this case field.
That’s really thinking at an impressive level