After finding holes up to several feet deep in the concrete foundations of the Fox Island Bridge, Pierce Country officials slapped the nearly 60-year-old span with a “structurally deficient” designation on Tuesday. As the Tacoma News Tribune reports, the bridge to tiny Fox Island now boasts a sufficiency rating of 7.33. Out of 100 points! That's far worse than the previous year’s score of 33, and well below the 50-point threshold for priority replacement. So, emergency repairs to prevent a repeat of the Skagit River Bridge collapse are imminent, right? Not! with an estimated replacement cost as high as $60 million. Despite those unnerving underwater holes, the county says the bridge is safe for the 3,500-plus Fox Island residents who cross it to get to the Gig Harbor peninsula. The holes are “something we want to track," Kraig Shaner, Pierce County’s bridge engineering supervisor, told the News Tribune. But "they’re not catastrophic." Yes, not catastrophic. That’s exactly the kind of bridge we want.
Another one close to biting the dust
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By Mary Bruno
Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,
Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,