(WSDOT photo)
State Transportation Department crews are inspecting the Deception Pass bridges this week. The work has been causing traffic backups because only one lane is open from 8 am - 2 pm.
Crews thoroughly inspect the Deception Pass bridges every two years and maintain them on a regular schedule. Using an Under the Bridge Inspection Truck, crews extend a steel arm with a bucket over the railing and under the bridge so inspectors can examine the structure.
The bridges were last inspected March 29, 2007.
The Deception Pass Bridges were built in 1935, two years before the Golden Gate Bridge.
There are roughly 7,000 bridges on the state, city and county road systems and most are inspected every two years. WSDOT crews inspected 1,909 state and local agency-owned bridges in 2008. This year, crews are scheduled to inspect 2,018 bridges.