A 100-ton expansion joint for the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge was homeward bound yesterday.
The truck and 17-axle trailer hauling the expansion joint hit Interstate 90 near Spokane about 11:30 a.m. The driver plans to reach CleElum on this first leg of the cross-state journey, which will take several days.
WSDOT installed a GPS unit on the truck to allow anyone interested in tracking the progress of the slow-moving, oversized load to do so at http://www.tacomanarrowsbridge.com .
The 16-foot-wide load takes up two lanes and will be escorted by pilot cars, including Washington State Patrol troopers. Drivers should anticipate delays in the vicinity of the superload, which will be traveling only about 12 mph on I-90, I-405, I-5 and SR 16.
The truck will move only in the overnight hours once it reaches the Puget Sound area.
Tacoma-based Omega-Morgan Rigging & Industrial Contracting was hired to move the giant expansion joint after the previous hauler was unsuccessful in configuring the load to meet state standards for weight-to-axle ratio. D.S. Brown, the company that fabricated two expansion joints for the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge, made the decision to go with the alternate carrier.
The reconfigured load is 200 feet long, the length of five semi-trailers. The expansion joint, truck and its equipment weigh about 420,000 pounds.
The expansion joints consist of rows of steel joined with neoprene strip seals. Acting like an accordion, each expansion joint is designed to absorb up to 56 inches of deck expansion and contraction that can be caused by thermal changes, wind forces, traffic movement or seismic motion. They were fabricated specifically for this bridge by the D.S. Brown Company. The two massive expansion joints will sandwich the mile-long steel deck.
