Arctic Directory: Global’s services utilized in recovery project

Global Diving & Salvage said June 19 that under contract to Atkinson Construction, it recently worked around the clock for 13 days under direction of the Washington Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board to provide diving and salvage services throughout the investigation and debris recovery phase of a project on Interstate 5.

On May 23, while traveling in the southbound lane of Interstate 5, a truck hauling a heavy and oversized load struck the support structure of a bridge crossing the Skagit River in Mount Vernon, Wash. The damage inflicted by the truck caused the 160-foot long four lane span to collapse into the river below, completely severing the interstate. While the truck cleared the bridge before it collapsed, two passenger vehicles caught up in the failure of the bridge were destroyed with the passengers emerging shocked and scared, but alive. Interstate 5 is the major West Coast transportation route between the United States and Canada, serving more than 70,000 vehicles per day.

Dive operations in the river were complicated by spring runoff conditions resulting in high river currents. The operations included a detailed underwater survey of the downstream edge of the wreckage to ensure that it was safe to bring demolition equipment alongside, cutting and rigging the bridge wreckage and an underwater inspection to survey for damage to the bridge piers.

Global Diving & Salvage Inc. is based in Seattle, Wash., with additional offices in the San Francisco Bay Area; Houston, Texas; and Anchorage, Alaska.

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