After Fatal Accident, State May Close 520 Bridge During Testing

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge is the only one in the state transportation system that is tested while the bridge is open to traffic.

It appears, however, that the procedure, which led to a fatal accident last month, will be phased out.

The ``dry-run'' testing of the bridge's mechanical functioning has been conducted by Department of Transportation officials virtually every Friday morning for the past 18 years. It is done during the rush hour, they say, because a safety measure has always prevented the drawspan from rising.

But on Dec. 22, a drawspan did rise, creating a solid five-foot wall. Cars traveling from both directions slammed into the span. A Seattle woman was killed and several others were injured.

Traffic is stopped during testing of the state's other 20 movable bridges, such as the Hood Canal Bridge. But it is not stopped on the 520 bridge, probably because of the inconvenience it would cause a large number of motorists, said Charles Mayhan, a state transportation engineer.

The bridge carries about 100,000 vehicles per day.

There are no dry runs on the Hood Canal Bridge, the state's only other floating-bridge drawspan, because it experiences enough boat traffic that it opens regularly - 502 times in 1988 compared to 28 times for the Evergreen Point Bridge.

The district will likely change its testing procedure on the Evergreen Point bridge, said John Stephenson, assistant administrator for the Bellevue district of the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Leslie Salisbury, public-affairs officer for the DOT, said it is looking for advice from consultants not only on what went wrong, but on whether the testing procedure should be changed.

The practice of dry-run tests has been an acknowledged and even praised measure for a long time, according to a 1977 department memorandum.

The memorandum from DOT district headquarters in Bellevue to headquarters in Olympia said the tests are ``an excellent preventive-maintenance practice'' and suggested they continue. The memo also said the weekly dry runs should be be augmented by monthly tests in which the bridge would actually open.

The memo indicated the Evergreen Point Bridge is so seldom opened that its reliability is in question unless frequently tested. Dry runs enable tests with ``no disruption nor effect on roadway traffic.''

The memorandum was addressed from the then-head of the DOT's Bellevue district office, Wes Bogart, to C.S. Gloyd, then the state's chief bridge engineer.

Clarence ``Tiny'' Miller, former district bridge superintendent, said no one ever objected to the dry-run tests, although ``I imagine John Q. Public wasn't even aware of them.''

Miller, who retired in June after seven years in charge of the bridge, said he was fully aware of the dry runs and so was headquarters in Olympia.

Bridge workers followed the normal procedure in conducting the Dec. 22 test, which calls for bypassing the bridge's electrical system. But for a still-undetermined reason, the drawspan was triggered and rose without the presence of a gate arm or warning lights. After the accident and while the bridge remained closed, crewmen tried the dry-run test again and the same thing happened.

The electrical equipment used in the procedure was scheduled to be replaced by 1992.

The electrical system on the bridge has been shut down, making travel across it safe, say officials.