An alert West Seattleite, Chris Ann West spotted a concrete truck on the West Seattle Bridge but only technically. The truck from Jireh Construction was there to pour cement for the footings on the pedestrian overpass that crosses the roadway leading to the bridge itself. 

That project, involving a nearly total renovation of the structure has been underway for some time and since it has been closed will now enable people to cross over and get from the top of the hill down to Avalon Way SW.

This was taking place as the concrete truck drivers strike by Teamsters Local 174 was continuing though some movement by the drivers themselves had been announced on Monday. The drivers said they would be willing to work for three of the Seattle area concrete companies, specifically, Lehigh, Cadman, and Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel.

It was unclear as of Wednesday when any more of the work required to complete the renovation of the West Seattle Bridge was going to resume.  Projects still requiring concrete include Sound Transits light rail extension, the downtown Seattle Convention Center, and the Highway 520 Bridge.

Westside Seattle asked for comment from Seattle Department of Transportation and they said “This concrete is associated with the Andover St Pedestrian Bridge Seismic Retrofit, which is not related to the West Seattle Bridge project.

The concrete strike has prevented contractors from pouring concrete in all but a few unique circumstances.  As reported in the Seattle Timeslast week, contractors have autonomy to select concrete suppliers and we were informed last week by the contractor for the Andover St Pedestrian Bridge Seismic Retrofit project that they would be pouring a comparatively small amounts of concrete using independent drivers. 

This is not the same kind of concrete as is needed for the West Seattle Bridge. The West Seattle Bridge program requires specialized concrete which is capable of holding more than 20 million pounds of force and must sustain its strength for decades for the bridge to remain standing. The kind of concrete which is needed for a street or sidewalk is different, and does not need to hold up to the same kinds of force.

Kraemer has reached out to all the concrete suppliers to determine who can supply the special type of concrete needed for the West Seattle Bridge and other details about timing and logistics. We are awaiting more information from the concrete suppliers. We are working closely with Kraemer as they urgently seek a concrete supplier for the bridge and continue to reorder and evaluate the repair schedule. We are talking with Kraemer every day about ways to keep the bridge repairs moving forward and minimize delays as much as possible.”

 Local 174 said they would have a statement about it later today.