Stranded Tacoma bridge part finally rolling; track it online

It's on the road again. Finally.

The huge expansion joint for the new Tacoma Narrows bridge, which has sat stranded near Spokane since failing a weight inspection March 17, began moving again toward its final destination at 11:30 this morning.

While creating headaches for state officials and financial problems for a Texas hauling firm, the joint's fate has sparked huge public interest and attracted scores of curious visitors. It has even prompted the state Department of Transportation to install a Global Positioning System transponder in the cab of the hauling truck so people can track its progress online at www.wsdot.wa.gov.

To comply with state highway weight regulations, the expansion joint was hoisted onto a 16-foot-wide trailer with 80 wheels Tuesday. The process required three cranes, and the final rig — which includes a hauling truck and a pushing truck — weighed in at 375,000 pounds, or about 188 tons, according to Nicholas Hopper, a commercial vehicle officer with the Washington State Patrol.

Hopper said that over the past two days, there have been 10 to 20 people at any one time peering through the fence at the DOT maintenance yard where the joint has been stored most recently. Dozens more have visited the part since it was stopped.

"It's kind of funny why this one piece has created so much interest," Hopper said. "Everyone wants to come and look at it."

The final 300-mile leg of the journey is expected to take three or four days, according to Hopper. The joint will be moving between 12 and 20 miles per hour and will have four escort vehicles, including one from the State Patrol.

Hopper said the aim is to use the right lane and shoulder of I-90 as much as possible, in order to minimize traffic disruption in other lanes.

Big Boat Movers, a Texas-based company, had hauled the part across several states from Minnesota with little incident before getting stopped at the Washington state border. The DOT told Big Boat Movers the load was distributed incorrectly across the truck axles.

"Big Boat had a permit," said Al Gilson, a spokesman with the state DOT. "But the traveling configuration did not match with the permit issued."

Over the past three weeks, Big Boat Movers failed to come up with a configuration that satisfied state officials, so the load was transferred Tuesday to a rig operated by Omega-Morgan, a Tacoma heavy-equipment moving company.

Meanwhile, Big Boat Movers is planning to haul a second expansion joint from Minnesota to near Spokane within the next two weeks. That part will also be transferred to an Omega-Morgan rig for the final part of the journey.

Gilson said that an inspection Tuesday found the latest rig fell comfortably within the permit limit.

For more information on the expansion joint's progress across the state, go to: www.wsdot.wa.gov and follow the links.

Material from the Associated Press is included in this report. Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com