SEATTLE — Secretary Hammond announced Tuesday that WSDOT is making repairs and design modifications to the SR 520 pontoons to ensure a 75-year life of the floating bridge. These changes are the result of findings by an expert review panel. Secretary Hammond also requested an internal review of what led to problems with the pontoons, which is now complete.
"The results of our internal review show that we did not follow standards of good practice to validate the pontoon design elements, and as an engineer, that is particularly frustrating," Hammond continued. "We also did not strictly follow some of our protocols for oversight and administration of the contract on the construction site."