Dozens of expansion joints could fail on I-5

A KIRO 7 investigation found dozens of expansion joints in poor condition on I-5 from Everett to Tacoma.

Expansion joints in poor condition are the most likely to break or be susceptible to problems, as gridlock in Seattle from expansion joint incidents showed in 2014 and 2015.

>> Click here to see if you're driving over an expansion joint in poor condition. Some are ramps, some are overpasses, but all are flowing onto, off of, or along I-5. You can refer to the Excel sheet for more details here.

“You don't expect the road to jump up and attack your car,” Kelly Blomquist said.

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He was driving south down I-5 on May 29, 2014 when he became the center of the city’s gridlock.

Transportation officials say a chain dragging on a truck pulled up a steel plate that covered an expansion joint, a gap between elevated parts of the freeway.

It allows the road to expand and contract with changes in temperature, and that metal cover almost ripped the wheel off Blomquist’s car.

“Had I been directly behind the truck, I have every confidence that it would have been my funeral,” he said.

Other drivers were stuck in a 10-mile back up.

A year and a half later on Nov. 4, 2015, there was gridlock on the same stretch of interstate. At least two bolts that were part of an expansion joint broke. It was on the same bridge, creating an even longer back up.

>> Here's what expansion joints in worn-out condition look like in photos.

KIRO 7 discovered that both incidents involved joints that were in poor condition and are about 50 years old.

The May 29 expansion joint was due for inspection the following week. The Nov. 4 expansion joint had been examined the previous week, and according to the Washington State Department of Transportation, crews had found no signs of fatigue.
               
After both failures, the joints were repaired but not replaced.
               
KIRO 7 discovered there are about 120 expansion joints along I-5 in King County, and WSDOT data shows about a third of those are in poor condition.
               
At KIRO 7's request, the state provided KIRO 7 with a list of all joints on I-5 from Everett to Tacoma. Sixty-six expansion joints are rated poor. In these 66 spots, there is the potential of similar incidents happening.
               
"Does that concern you?" KIRO 7 asked.
               
"It concerns me that we get those repaired," Tom Baker, WSDOT's bridge & structures engineer, said. "Just like it does that we get all the portions of the bridges repaired that need it."

He took KIRO 7 under I-5 and pointed out expansion joints around 50 years old.

"Too many hits, and they can fail," Baker said. "They're doing OK for their age, but we also didn't conceive of I-5 having 280,000 vehicles a day on it."

Baker said they do a full inspection for each one every two years.

This December, partly in reaction to the Nov. 4 failure, maintenance crews started checking joints in poor condition twice a month instead of once.

"We want to watch the riskiest ones, the riskiest joints, to make sure we can see when they're having difficulties and do maintenance repairs," Baker said.
               
Even so, he said, it's difficult for WSDOT to predict the next big failure. The database where WSDOT records full inspections doesn't sync up with the database where its maintenance crews record smaller fixes. That makes it tough for them to get the full picture on a joint's condition, including all 66 most likely to break. Baker said they are working on combining the two databases and studying other states to see what how they predict failures.

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KIRO 7 took its findings to State Rep. Judy Clibborn, head of the House’s transportation committee.

“When I started looking into it, I wasn't aware exactly how big of a problem it was as to how many they were,” she said. “Now that I’m aware, it’s not going to go away.”

Clibborn said there will be $1.4 billion for maintenance and preservation from the state's new transportation package, including $200 million specifically focused on concrete work on I-5. Some of both of those funds should be used to replace joints, she said.

After sending a briefing paper to Gov. Jay Inslee regarding the increased frequency of maintenance checks, WSDOT also now plans to spend $27 million in existing, undedicated preservation funds to replace King County expansion joints over the next 10 years.

“I think when they bring the plan to us, which I've asked for, I will be looking for the timeline and how they integrate it into the rest of the work they have to do,” Clibborn said.

Blomquist said he hopes the state can act fast enough to prevent a tragedy.

“We can put Band-Aids on it for years to come, but until we fix it, the potential for what happened to me, to happen to somebody else or worse, is very real,” he said.

WSDOT said if it wants to shut down parts of I-5 to replace the joints, they’ll have to work around events and other road projects. That also means figuring out how many closures drivers are willing tolerate.

Cox Media Group