Concrete again being poured at West Seattle Bridge
SEATTLE - Concrete work at the West Seattle Bridge resumed in the early morning hours Tuesday, April 5.
According to the Seattle Department of Transportation, concrete trucks arrived early on April 5 and the first pours for new expansion joints began.
It's all part of the major maintenance being done on the bridge which remains closed for repairs.
"Reopening the West Seattle Bridge is the top transportation priority for my team and getting concrete today is an encouraging step that brings us closer to that goal, said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. Throughout this strike, I’m continuing to have intense discussions with both sides to urge a fair resolution to this contract dispute."
According to SDOT, the bridge repairs require 245 cubic yards or about 30 truckloads of specialized concrete. Upon completion, they will be able to hold more than 20 million pounds of force.
It is still too soon to know if the West Seattle Bridge will still be able to re-open in mid 2022 as previously thought.
A King County Superior Court Judge on March 29 ruled in favor of striking concrete workers, who filed a lawsuit against the Seattle companies that attempted to block union members from protesting.
According to Teamsters Local 174, five concrete companies— Gary Merlino Construction, Stoneway Concrete, Cadman Materials, Inc., Lehigh Cement and CalPortland — assaulted striking members and/or "blocked union members' constitutional right to protest."
A judge also found that during the strike, there have been multiple instances "at concrete company sites where non-union drivers of trucks, leasing from or serving the companies, "have ‘charged’ into picketers thereby causing bodily injury and creating a significant danger to the picketers."
The ruling comes after Teamster's Local 174 reached "good faith" agreements with two companies, as the concrete strike entered its fifth month.
The offer to return to work at these companies was in good faith and does not mean a new contract agreement has been reached.
Representatives of Teamster’s Local 174, which represents around 330 workers, say Cadman’s Seattle facility and Salmon Bay Sand & Gravel can use union drivers and haul concrete to projects of the companies' choosing.
The agreement with Cadman only affects the company’s Seattle plant but is not a contract.
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