Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The Steptoe Canyon Road bridge work south of Colton moves forward toward completion as a deadline nears of Oct. 15 on the permit from the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife.
Brandon Kruger, Whitman County maintenance operations manager, reported to county commissioners Monday that the new bridge’s pilings have been driven and steel caps installed for girders to be attached.
Delivery of the 34-foot span concrete girders is now being coordinated along with scheduling a crane.
County Public Works Director Mark Storey expects it all to be finished by Oct. 15.
“It’s more likely it will be done than not be done,” he said.
Cars now traverse the span on a temporary detour bridge at the spot south of Colton.
If the county needs more time for the bridge, it may apply for a permit extension with Fish and Wildlife. Weather is not expected to be a concern until November.
In mid-August, Whitman County Public Works built a fish passage channel following a delay after ash from a possible indigenous campfire was discovered at the site. It was evaluated by the Nez Perce Tribe and Army Corps of Engineers before the county received approval to bury it and proceed.
It was later covered with geotextile fabric, followed by large rocks at the spot.
Public Works installed the temporary bridge detour in July to prepare to build the new, pre-stressed concrete, reinforced bridge which will replace a raised culvert to allow for better fish passage.
The bridge leads down to Wawawai Road 10 miles west of Clarkston.
Washington State Salmon Recovery Board is funding the $250,000 project along with a $50,000 donation of manpower and equipment from Whitman County.
The metal-corrugated tube that makes up the culvert now is perched, meaning it sits above the stream channel which does not allow fish to get upstream of the county road to spawn.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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