King County announces indefinite, emergency closure of Tolt Hill Bridge, west of Carnation

CARNATION, Wash. -- King County on Friday announced an emergency closure of Tolt Hill Bridge, west of Carnation, for an indefinite time to design and implement repairs.

The bridge, 1834A, is located where Northeast Tolt Hill Road crosses the Snoqualmie River, west of carnation. The bridge was to be fully closed to traffic at 8 p.m. Friday, and detours will be in place for travelers.

The King County Department of Transportation said that under new federal regulations, load ratings require all bridges to be evaluated by 2022 using new criteria. For the first time, agencies are required to review gusset plate connections, which are thick sheets of steel bolting together structural elements of truss bridges.

While doing an inspection, the county discovered "discrepancies" between the design calculations for Tolt Hill Bridge and the plans provided by the private firm to the builder for construction.

"The bridge currently shows no visible issues, and has been inspected on a biweekly basis since March 8, 2017," the county said in a news release, adding that the last bridge inspection took place on June 13.

It said no dates have been set for repair work or reopening the bridge.

For a map showing the location of the bridge and the detours, click here.