New I-90 Overpass At Bullfrog Road Near Cle Elum Now Open

There's a new overpass on Interstate-90 (I-90) near Cle Elum.

On Thursday, the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the overpass connecting Bullfrog Road at Exit 80 officially opened to all vehicle traffic.

The new structure was built to replace the previous overpass which had to be torn down after it was struck and heavily damaged by a semi-truck carrying an over-height load in October.

Work to replace the overpass on an emergency basis was authorized by the state shortly after engineers deemed the old structure unsafe for further use.

Get our free mobile app

Spokane-based Garco Construction, Inc. was retained to build the new overpass using pre-cast concrete girders at a total cost of $8 million.

Garco crews completed construction of the new overpass in 86 days, which bested projected estimates by about two weeks.

Although the overpass can now be safely used by the driving public, additional work is still needed to fully complete the structure.

Crews will return this spring to place a thin overlay on the deck of the overpass and install other finishing touches.

The DOT says about 1,500 vehicles typically use the Exit 80 overpass on a daily basis.

Traffic on I-90 was heavily slowed and even detoured at times during tear-down of the old overpass and construction of the new one.