Hwy. 58 tunnel nighttime closures to end

Nighttime closures at the Oregon Highway 58 Salt Creek Tunnel will end this week as the first year of a two-year project nears the end of the 2012 construction season.

The season’s last nighttime closure at the tunnel, located at milepost 56 on OR 58 (Willamette Hwy), will be Thursday, October 11.

When the tunnel reopens at 6 a.m. on Friday, October 12, motorists should plan on a single lane of travel controlled by flaggers and a pilot car. Motorists can anticipate a delay of no more than 20 minutes.

Once the weather changes and snow is in the forecast, construction will end for this season and the tunnel will be open to two lanes of travel until the project resumes next spring.

Second construction season to begin next spring

During the 2013 construction season, nighttime closures will resume Monday through Thursday, from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. Single lane restrictions using a pilot car will also resume and continue until the project is complete in mid-October, 2013.

Project will modernize a historic tunnel

Built in 1939, the tunnel needs serious repair and the adjacent west half viaduct and the three east viaducts are failing and need to be replaced. The half viaducts have exposed reinforcement bar, severe cracks in concrete and are currently braced and supported by temporary timber bracing that ODOT maintenance put in place in 2008. In addition, the tunnel liner is cracked and leaking. Prior to this year’s construction, the tunnel had limited vertical clearance; and the tunnel floor was in disrepair.

2012 construction

Capital Concrete Construction of Aumsville, Oregon is the primary contractor on the $9.6 million project.

During this construction season, the contractor:

Lowered the tunnel floor by 18-inches

Poured and paved the new tunnel floor

Constructed a new, improved drainage system in the tunnel
Placed approximately half of the foundation piles needed for the half viaducts
Stayed on budget

2013 construction

Beginning in spring, 2013 and continuing until mid-October, the contractor will:

Place the remaining foundation piles for the half viaducts
Construct the half viaducts using precast beams and decks
Repair and seal the tunnel liner
Repair the tunnel lighting
Construct two Variable Message Signs and a weather station

Know Before you Go

To learn more about the project, visit the project page at: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION2/pages/or58_salt_creek_tunnel.aspx