Thursday, Oct 20 2011 - The new 43-foot Buck Bay Bridge on Orcas has been completed. Traffic began crossing the bridge on Wednesday September 28 at 4:35pm. 

The official bridge ceremonies were conducted at noon on October 20^th with County Council Members Patty Miller and Richard Fralick cutting the ribbon. The County's new public works director, Frank Mulcahy was on hand to witness the opening of the first bridge to be built in San Juan County in approximately 40 years.

The new bridge replaces a roadway fill where Cascade Creek flowed through two culverts. The new stream channel is 18 feet wide. The culverts were sometimes overwhelmed by the stream’s flow resulting in flooding of and damage to the roadway. Additionally, the culverts were an obstacle to fish passage.

Razz Construction of Bellingham won the construction contract in April of this year and used several local suppliers and sub-contractors. Final work on vegetation restoration will be complete by 21 October.

A State Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant of $472,000 helped pay for the improvements with the county providing matching funds.
 
For more project information, contact Dan Vekved at Public Works 370-0504 or danv@sjcpublicworks.org.