It’s no trick – Lewis and Clark Bridge painting work shuts down for the winter on Oct. 31

Drivers will get a treat this Monday, Oct. 31, as painting crews on the State Route 433 Lewis and Clark Bridge remove tarps from the tent-like work platforms and suspend all construction on the bridge for the winter.

Contractor crews from Odyssey/Geronimo JV of Houston, Penn., have been working throughout the spring and summer to restore and preserve the historic structure. The team has successfully painted several sections of the mile-long bridge, but will suspend the weather-dependent work during the wet and windy winter months.

Several sections of the steel structure will remain wrapped in cables over the winter. The cables form the framework for containment platforms that will enclose workers and materials when they restart painting activities next spring.

A height restriction of 16.5 feet has been in effect on the bridge since work began in 2009 and will remain in place throughout the duration of the project.

This is the third and final contract in a series of projects to restore and preserve the mile-long historic bridge. The bridge was built to span the Columbia River in 1929 and carries 21,000 vehicles a day between Longview, Wash., and Rainier, Ore.

This $40 million phase of the SR 433, Lewis and Clark Bridge painting project includes $12.3 million in federal funding through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and is scheduled for completion in 2013. Project photos are available on WSDOT’s Flickr site.