MOUNT VERNON — Four months after the old span collapsed into the Skagit River, a new Interstate 5 bridge section was installed and cleared for traffic Sunday.
Crews swapped a temporary 500-ton span with a 900-ton permanent one.
The bridge, which was closed overnight for the installation, reopened to traffic at 2 p.m. Sunday, the state Department of Transportation said.
The original target hour for the reopening was 7 a.m., but the complicated swap took longer than expected.
On May 23, an oversize truck load hit the bridge, sending one 160-foot section and two vehicles with three people into the water. No one was killed.
