TACOMA — More than half of the city of Tacoma’s bridge inventory is not in “good” overall shape, city data shows, a reflection of aging infrastructure and the difficulties in securing necessary money to rebuild.
“If we were to have all the money in the world, we will replace every single bridge that we have in front of us,” city Public Works director Ramiro Chavez told The News Tribune.
The prospect of replacement, the eventual goal for 44 city-owned bridges, was recently brought into focus after the closure of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge in October. Debris buildup prevented a thorough routine inspection needed to ensure the safety of the 98-year-old bridge, which is among the city’s oldest and in poor condition.
Chavez estimated it will cost as much as $7 million to clear debris from the bridge — a key component of the city’s freight network and a connecting passage to the city of Fife. It could take up to three years to secure that funding and the city risks spending the money only to potentially learn upon inspection that the bridge must remain closed.
“The result of that inspection is yet to be seen, depending as to what the elements — it goes back to the elements they see within that structure,” Chavez said.
It’s uncertain if the bridge can be safely reopened, but there’s no doubt about its long-term future: It must be entirely replaced. Steel bridges on average will last 100 years, and it was nearing the end of its useful life. Chavez estimated it would cost $280 million to replace if the city had the funds today and take until 2029 to complete. The price tag will only rise as time goes on.
‘Good,’ ‘fair,’ ‘poor’
Twenty of the city’s bridges, or fewer than half, are considered to be in “good” condition, according to city data. Eighteen are rated as “fair.” Six are deemed to be in a “poor” general state, including two spans of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge.
As expected, age appeared to be a prominent factor in condition.
The average age of all Tacoma-owned bridges is 58 years old, according to a News Tribune analysis of the data.
On average, those in poor condition are significantly older: 82 years.
The Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge, which was constructed in 1925 and carried roughly 16,000 vehicles per day, is the sixth-oldest bridge in the city’s inventory, the data shows.
City bridges in “fair” condition have an average age of 70 years old, according to the analysis. Those in “good” condition are on average only 40 years old.
Ten bridges within the city’s inventory have been substantially improved or “rebuilt” since their initial construction year, according to the data, and the East L Street bridge was replaced in 2007. It’s also worth noting that 51% of all city-owned bridges — significantly more than now — were considered to be in poor condition in an annual city report just last year. The city attributed the difference to a recent shift in rating methodology.
Across the country, jurisdictions such as Tacoma are confronting aging infrastructure that will be expensive to replace.
Of all bridges in the United States, 42% were at least 50 years old and 7.5% were considered to be in poor condition, according to a 2021 infrastructure report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Chavez noted that condition, on its own, did not mean that a bridge was unsafe, and he reiterated that the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge only closed because it couldn’t be properly inspected.
“By definition, the poor condition, that doesn’t translate into closing the bridge,” he said.
Routine inspections generally conducted every two years and expert opinion determine a bridge’s safety, according to Chavez, who noted that the city’s approach wasn’t to invest a certain amount of money into a bridge only for the sake of improving its rating.
“The main objective,” he said, “is to continue to provide safe infrastructure for the public to travel.”
But bridge ratings, based on a 10-point system used by jurisdictions throughout the state, do help to inform what work might be needed now or in the future.
In its recent evaluation of the nation’s bridge system, the ASCE said that, although bridges in poor condition were not inherently unsafe, “they require substantial investment in the form of replacement or significant rehabilitation, and they present a higher risk for future closure or weight restrictions.”
Addressing aging infrastructure
The East 11th Street Truss, East 34th Street bridge and River Street and Union Avenue viaducts — each constructed between 1911 and 1973 — are the four other structures within Tacoma’s bridge inventory that hold a “poor” rating, city data shows. The truss bridge was closed nearly a decade ago due to structural deficiencies. The River Street Viaduct is weight-restricted to 31 tons.
The data accounted separately for five spans of the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge. In addition to showing that two stretches were considered to be in a poor state, it reflected that two spans were in fair condition and a fifth, replaced in 2019, maintained a good rating.
During a joint study session between the City Council and Port of Tacoma Commission on Nov. 28, Chavez said a “poor” rating — which is determined by examining structural and functional elements of a bridge — indicated widespread, moderate or isolated defects within a structure.
A rating factored in the condition of a bridge’s elements such as a deck, substructure (below deck) and superstructure (above deck).
The Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, meaning it has elements that need monitoring, replacement or improvement, and it doesn’t meet current design standards for loading or other design features, such as lanes and shoulder widths, he told the two governing bodies.
The estimated replacement cost could balloon to $400 million in coming years, interim deputy city manager Kurtis Kingsolver said during the study session. The city received a $9 million federal grant for engineering that will start next year, according to Chavez.
The city said it was also addressing other bridges with the worst rating among its inventory.
The East 34th Street bridge, built in 1937, is funded for deck replacement and substructure upgrades that are expected to be completed in 2026, according to the city. The 52-year-old Union Avenue Viaduct’s damaged off-ramp was repaired in November and reopened to traffic.
In an effort to rehabilitate the deck of the River Street Viaduct, which was built in 1973, the city sought federal funding this year but did not receive the money it applied for. City spokesperson Maria Lee said that officials plan to resubmit an application during the next grant cycle.
The East 11th Street Truss, where a connecting viaduct was demolished last year, is planned to be replaced “in the future,” according to the city’s 2022 bridge report.
As for the Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge, Chavez said during last month’s study session that, because of its age, the bridge will either reopen as-is following its cleaning and inspection or, if it can’t, it will remain closed until it can be replaced.
Replacement could be a decade or so away, according to Kingsolver.
“I think for all of us, the ultimate goal is to rebuild the bridge,” Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said during the study session. “That’s why it’s been on our priority list for so long.”
