Daily Journal of Commerce
With the governors of Oregon and Washington announcing Monday they decided on a deck truss bridge design as the replacement of the aging Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River, attention is now turning to the project's final environmental impact statement.
Govs. John Kitzhaber of Oregon and Chris Gregoire of Washington said they like the deck truss, which is similar to the newer Glenn Jackson Interstate 205 Bridge just to the east, because it will keep the project on schedule and on budget.
The project's final EIS is expected to be published this summer. A project spokeswoman said they should then get a record of decision by year end from the Federal Transit Administration and Federal Highway Administration, which will allow construction to proceed.
David Evans and Associates is lead consultant on the EIS.
The spokeswoman said they hope to add an architect to the project team within the next four months. The architect would help develop the design-build construction contract and contribute to the request-for-proposals stage.
At a news conference near the I-5 bridge on Monday, the governors said other bridge designs would require delays for additional design work and environmental analysis, increasing the time and cost needed to complete the replacement project.
“Moving this project to completion in the most cost-effective way possible is critical to providing a safer, less congested transportation system,” Kitzhaber said.
The two governors said they also chose the deck truss design to take advantage of federal funding opportunities with hopes of breaking ground on the Columbia River Crossing project in 2013, according to The Associated Press.
“Our timing is important — we are seeking nearly $1.3 billion in federal funding for this project,” Gregoire said.
Construction would take five to seven years, according to the project's website. Work would include five miles of related road improvements on both sides of the bridge. The overall cost is estimated at $3.55 billion.