Travelers on the Bainbridge Island-Seattle ferry run will see a rerun of last weekend’s adjusted schedule that saw Bainbridge boats sharing a slip with Bremerton’s ferries at the dock in Seattle.
Most sailings on the Bainbridge and Bremerton routes will temporarily shift between 5 to 30 minutes.
Washington State Ferries said this week that due to heavy fog last weekend, construction crews weren’t able to finish installing all of the steel piles needed to support the work platform for the terminal redo on the north side of the dock.
The work platform is essential; it will be used by crews replacing the seismically-vulnerable dock and passenger terminal that serves Bainbridge and Bremerton during the ongoing renovation of WSF’s busiest hub.
Crews installed three of the eight steel piles needed to support the new platform last weekend, and WSF said the remaining five steel piles will be installed this weekend, weather permitting.
That means that ferry riders on the two routes will follow a temporary sailing schedule this weekend — Saturday, Oct. 27 and Sunday, Oct. 28 — so crews can close one of two slips at Colman Dock and finish the remaining work.
Both slips will reopen Monday, Oct. 29.
“The north side of Colman Dock is supported by 70-year-old creosote piles and beams that cannot support the weight of the construction crane needed to rebuild the dock,” said Director of Terminal Engineering Nicole McIntosh.
“The work platform we’re building is critical because it will support the heavy crane needed to pull out these very old timber piles and replace them with sturdy steel piles,” McIntosh explained.
Future sailing schedule changes may be possible, however.
“There’s a reason this time of year is called Fog-tober,” said construction engineer Bryant Bullamore.
“We will do our best to get the work done, but if we can’t see what we’re doing there is a chance we’ll have to stop work and pick it up again the following weekend,” Bullamore said.
The temporary sailing schedule can be reviewed online at www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/ferries/colmanmultimodalterminal/what-to-expect-during-construction.
