Ward Bridge along Woodcock Road and over the Dungeness River tentatively reopens in early October.

Clallam County officials closed the bridge in late June and a section of Woodcock from milepost 2.27 to milepost 2.39 to repair the bridge’s piers and resurface its roadway.

Clallam County engineer Pat McElroy said contractor Bruch & Bruch Construction, Inc., of Port Angeles anticipates paving the roadway the last full week of September and finishing construction the first week of October barring weather.

The approximate $1.2 million project is on budget too, McElroy said.

He said the bridge’s piers were built in the late 1930s and its superstructure rebuilt in late 1970s.

“It was starting to drop due to the river cutting into the piers,” McElroy said.

To prevent future bridge scout, crews spent about a month digging 11 feet next to each pier and placing riprap.

McElroy said crews detoured the Dungeness River for each pier and used three 8-inch hoses to keep the holes dry.

Each pier was repaired with epoxy, too.

“They are better than when they were new,” he said.

The pedestrian walkways will remain largely the same with some repairs to one section that was damaged by a tree.

Accessing the walkways along the sides of the bridge should be easier to access though, McElroy said, without a concrete barrier blocking them.

Crews also expanded parking on the west side of the bridge for about six vehicles and added permanent construction access below the bridge.

To finish the project, McElroy said crews will add about 8 inches of gravel and 6 inches of hot asphalt to the roadway, revegetate the hill sides by the bridge, and place a new guard rail.

For more information on the project, visit www.clallam.net/roads/WardBridgeScour Repair.html.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequim gazette.com.

Pat McElroy, an engineer for Clallam County, said construction crews plan to place about 8 inches of gravel and 6 inches of hot asphalt to repave the Ward Bridge over the Dungeness River. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

In the summer, Bruch & Bruch Construction, Inc., crewmen dug 11 feet to place riprap to prevent bridge scour on the Ward Bridge. They also added epoxy to help reinforce the bridge’s piers.

Surveyors with Clallam County begin preparations to repave a section of Woodcock Road over Ward Bridge as construction crews worked to repair it. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash

The pedestrian/bicycle pathways along Ward Bridge will be easier to access once repairs and repaving is complete, said Pat McElroy, an engineer for Clallam County. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash