High Winds Shut Damaged Floating Bridge 6 1/2 Hours

SEATTLE —  High winds Thursday forced officials to temporarily close a damaged floating bridge, creating new woes for morning rush-hour commuters between Seattle and its eastern suburbs.

After a storm moved out of the area, the state Transportation Department reopened westbound lanes of the $110-million bridge shortly after 8 a.m., ending a 6 1/2-hour closure that forced many commuters living east of Lake Washington to find alternative routes into town.

The bridge was being stabilized by tugboats and a giant salvage ship. The closure was ordered when a storm with winds gusting to 30 m.p.h. moved into the area.

“We just don’t want to put traffic out there with the wind this high and the movement of the bridge. It is bopping up and down quite a bit,” Transportation Department spokesman Bill Southern said at the time. The westbound lanes of the Interstate 90 bridge had been reopened Tuesday after a closure caused Sunday by a closed bridge that sank and severed 12 of the new bridge’s 58 anchor cables.

The Arctic Salvor, a 949-ton salvage ship, was brought in overnight to help anchor the damaged span against the approaching wind and rain.

Crews continued to rig cables from the new bridge to clusters of huge ship anchors 200 feet below on the lake bed, with permanent repairs to be made later. All of the boats will stay until 28 temporary anchors can be attached to the bridge, officials said.

The cause of the old bridge’s collapse is under investigation.