Dec. 14--The Walla Walla Fire Department's response times to fires can be affected by weight restrictions on older bridges in the city.
The department cannot cross 12 bridges using its one ladder truck and four using its two fire engines, Fire Chief Bob Yancey said. The ladder truck weighs 32.5 tons and the fire engines each weigh about 20 tons.
The city has 11 bridges, almost all nearly 100 years old, with weight restrictions imposed on them due to their age and structural integrity, said Monte Puymon, city transportation engineer. A 12th bridge in the county also has weight restrictions.
"There were probably more horses crossing than automobiles, so obviously the use has changed significantly in the last 100 years," Puymon said. "That is why it is posted with load restrictions because it is not sufficient to carry today's loads."
Yancey said the department plans fire runs to every section of the city beforehand so crews know how to avoid those bridges.
"Part of identifying these bridges was also identifying a way around them," Yancey said. "So you might have to take a turn, a turn and another turn to get to them."
The fire department can access every part of the city despite the bridge restrictions, he said. But the weight-restricted bridges do add seconds to the firefighters' response time.
"Fire doubles in size every one minute," Yancey said. "(But) I can't think of any bridges that would equate to a one-minute drive-around time. Usually we are talking about seconds."
Bridge restrictions also affect the Walla Walla Police Department, Puymon said. The department's large armored vehicle it uses for SWAT situations weighs 25 tons.
The city's Public Works Department plans to update three of the bridges over the next three years, Puymon said.
Designs for the Howard Street and Bryant Avenue bridge are being completed this year, and construction will begin in 2018. It will cost $1,004,000, he said, and the city will cover the entire cost. Repairs on all 11 bridges would cost $30.8 million.
The department recently received $4,671,173 in grants from the state Department of Transportation to replace the two other bridges: one on Spokane Street and another on Rose Street, both over the Mill Creek Channel, Puymon said.
The city will contribute $236,952 of the total construction cost of $1,755,200 for the Spokane Street bridge. The Rose Street bridge will cost $3,645,000, with the city's share of that amount pegged at $492,075. The design for the Spokane Street bridge will begin in 2018, with work to start in 2019, Puymon said. The Rose Street bridge design will begin in 2019 and construction will start in 2020.
"The reason that we focused on those three is because Howard and Bryant are our two true arterials on that list so they are the most highly traveled," he said. "So that has an impact on truck traffic because trucks are usually on arterial routes."
Construction of the Spokane Street bridge will also help in the development of the planned Penrose Walla Walla Hotel, Puymon said. The city will be able to design the bridge with tourism and aesthetics in mind.
Walla Walla has a lot of aging infrastructure, Puymon said. Bridges, particularly on main arterials, are important because weight limits can restrict traffic through the city.
___ (c)2017 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.) Visit Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (Walla Walla, Wash.) at union-bulletin.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
