The Washington State Dept. of Transportation escaped one last schedule hurdle in its planned opening of the new, $519.8-million state Route 120 Hood Canal Bridge, thanks in part to the ample time allotted for functional testing of the new west-half lift span.

The eastern half of the 1.5-mile crossing, which includes one of 11 permanent floating bridges in the world, opened last year after a 15-month delay due to the discovery of an ancient Native American village at the site of a planned graving dock. It connects the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, which are 60 miles north of Seattle.

最后一个障碍威胁要再次推迟该项目。但是，对于DOT和总部位于内布拉斯加州奥马哈的总承包商Kiewit将来说，这本来可以是一场噩梦，无非是一个石油流问题。在最终测试期间，新的西南部升降机液压系统缩回了300英尺的混凝土浮桥以允许船舶通道以允许船舶通道。升降机跨度下方约300英尺的车道滑梯，需要提起9英尺以提供足够的间隙。WSDOT项目经理杰夫·库克（Jeff Cook）表示，升降机跨度具有三个相等的部分，所有部分都必须是水平。但是，这三个部分的后液压升降机的运行速度比前升降机慢。他说：“如果不是水平，如果有约束力和推动力，那不是我们想要的。”“可测量的公差为5至6英寸。他们都有16英寸的前后偏转。”

The issue came down to how oil flowed through piping and created pressure in the hydraulic components. “The flow rates weren’t even,” Cook explains. “The flows are now equivalent and we are good- to-go.” The deflection, after the oil-flow fix, is now less than 1 inch. The issue didn’t occur on the eastern portion, experts believe, because the west side was a retrofit, with some new and some old components trying to work together.

The delay hasn’t been very costly, Cook says, but it did push the finish of the project back three weeks and cost $20,000 in labor and engineering. The number of days with traffic delays for area residents was not affected. Cook says that WSDOT and Kiewit take equal responsibility for the issue. Kiewit declined to comment for the story.

库克补充说：“功能性测试抓住了这一点。”“我们在它成为一个长期问题之前就抓住了它。”上周恢复了功能测试。库克说，希望在本月底之前将连续二十个适当的跨度开口和关闭进行，希望在本月底之前完成。

The project’s overall goal is to prevent a repeat of the 1979 sinking of the western half, a result of 120-mph winds.