Repair work on the I-90 floating bridge is scheduled to begin July 5. While the associated road closures will cause significant travel delays, construction now is scheduled to finish more than a week earlier than first planned.

Prep work begins on July 5, and on July 6 WSDOT is completely closing the westbound mainline lanes across the I-90 floating bridge to replace aging and cracked steel bridge joints.

WSDOT worked with General Construction Co. to trim more than a week from the schedule to replace cracked expansion joints on the floating bridge. Engineers are concerned the 20-year-old joints pose a potential safety risk. Construction now is scheduled to begin July 5 and wrap up by July 20 rather than July 28.

“Finding techniques to speed up this unique work means I-90 traffic will return to normal more quickly,” WSDOT assistant regional administrator Russ East said. “Congestion still is expected to be severe and drivers need to prepare a backup plan to avoid delays for the two weeks of construction. We don’t want drivers sitting in construction traffic any longer than absolutely necessary.”

The contractor agreed to a compressed schedule based on lessons learned from similar construction on the I-90 express lanes in May. Early prep work and round-the-clock coordinated work on both ends of the floating bridge also will speed up the project.

If the work is completed according to the new schedule, the contractor will receive $510,000. That figure includes the cost of additional labor and equipment to finish the job early. If work takes longer than the new schedule, the contractor will reimburse WSDOT for each additional day of construction.

All I-90 westbound traffic will be funneled into the two express lanes during construction. WSDOT traffic engineers predict delays of an hour or more between Issaquah and Seattle unless enough drivers change how or when they commute. Leaving before 6 a.m., working from home, sharing the ride or bicycle commuting all will help beat the backups.