N.J. bridge firm to build temporary I-5 span; material arriving

Acrow Bridges built this temporary middle span in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. (Photo: Acrow Bridges)



SEATTLE -- Acrow Bridges, a 62-year-old New Jersey bridge-building firm, will construct the temporary four-lane span to replace the collapsed I-5 bridge over the Skagit River, the Everett Herald reported Tuesday.

Acrow, which specializes in prefabricated modular steel bridges, said that it has built similar bridges to replace damaged ones in Hurricanes Katrina, Irene and Sandy.

Acrow will build the temporary bridge in pieces on a closed stretch of I-5, to be rolled into place once it’s completed and the National Transportation Safety Board completes its work.

“Materials for the new temporary bridge have started to arrive,” the Washington State Department of Transportation said on its website Tuesday. “And we are on pace to meet Gov. (Jay) Inslee’s challenge to get the temporary bridge open by mid-June. Our plan is to place two temporary bridges side by side, one span each for northbound and southbound traffic. The spans will be 24 feet wide and 160 feet long.”