The Carbon River Bridge has “permanently closed” to all traffic, cutting off Highway 165 to the northwest of Mount Rainier National Park, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Beyond daily traffic, the closure will indefinitely pinch recreational access to Rainier in the summer, as two of the park’s precious few entrance points have been rendered inaccessible.
Photos show the bridge support column “is bent in two directions and starting to buckle,” according to a blog post from WSDOT.
“It’s very apparent from the visual changes in the columns that the bridge is no longer safe to use,” Steve Roark, WSDOT’s Olympic region administrator, said in a written statement. After an emergency closure last week, WSDOT announced Tuesday that the bridge will remain closed.
“Closing the bridge was our last option,” Roark said. “We fully understand the magnitude of this decision for everyone who relies on this bridge.”
WSDOT closed the bridge April 14 “as a safety precaution after a recent inspection revealed new deterioration of steel supports across the bridge,” per Tuesday’s report.
The closure of the bridge, which opened in 1921, will hinder the plans of outdoors enthusiasts this spring and summer, as Highway 165 leads to the Carbon River and Mowich Lake entrances to Mount Rainier National Park. It’s also along the route to the Carbon River Ranger Station, where backpackers pick up permits to stay in the park overnight.
Effectively, access to the park from the northwest will be cut off. Hiking in the area will be a no-go, including northwestern access points to the Wonderland Trail that circles all of mighty Tahoma, which is popular with ultrarunners and hardcore hikers.
As for those other park entrances? Mount Rainier National Park instituted a reserved, timed-entry system during peak hours at the park’s southwestern, southeastern and east-northeastern entrance points last summer. The Nisqually, Stevens Canyon and White River entrances provide access to the popular Paradise and Sunrise areas. All are now on the reservation system, while the Mowich Lake and Carbon River entrances maintained unfettered access.
A representative for Mount Rainier National Park could not be immediately reached for comment.
With the bridge closed for the foreseeable future, WSDOT has started a planning study to evaluate next steps. Potential solutions listed by WSDOT include replacing the bridge “in the same vicinity” or rerouting the highway “on a new alignment to the east or west of Carbon River Canyon.” Or the state could “keep the bridge closed and not replace it.”
Per the statement, there is currently “no funding available to replace the bridge.”
A 9-mile detour remains open to first responders and local residents, though it’s not open to the public.
Public feedback will be accepted at “in-person and online open house” sessions after Memorial Day, which will be announced at a later date.
