• Protect the public's investment, extend the service life of bridges, and provide safe travel across bridges by all modes
• Improve safety and reliability by rehabilitating bridges to meet structural standards
• Maintain the historic character of Tacoma’s bridges
• Practice innovative maintenance management to efficiently and cost effectively achieve these goals

• Total bridge assets within the City are valued over $1 billion in replacement value (2021 dollars)
• Currently, the City spends over $1.5 million, annually, to operate, inspect, and maintain the City bridge system
• Of the 45 bridges in the City's inventory;
  • 45% (20) total are considered in good condition,
  • 4% (2 total) are considered to be in fair condition, and
  • 51% (23) total are considered to be in poor condition.
• Almost half (43%) of the bridges in the system are over 50 years old
• There are 41 vehicular bridges and 4 pedestrian only bridges
• 9 bridges are load restricted for less than legal loads (Commercial Vehicles and Trucks)
• 2 bridges are closed to vehicular traffic: E 11th street (over the Puyallup River) and the E 11th street viaduct.
• 5 bridges are over water (3 over the Puyallup River, 1 over the Hylebos Waterway, and 1 over the Thea Foss Waterway)
• 35 bridges are over natural features (valleys), roads, or railroads
• 3 bridges are short spans.  Short spans are bridges less than 20 feet in length.
• 2 bridges are moveable bridges (Hylebos and Murrary Morgan)
• 4 of the City’s bridges are historical bridges and are on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
  • Murray Morgan Bridge, built in 1911 over the Foss Waterway
  • E. 34th Street Bridge, built in 1937, over Lister Gulch
  • N. 21st Bridge, built in 1910, over Buckley Gulch
  • N. 23rd Street Pedestrian Bridge, built in 1909, over Buckley Gulch.  Due to its inability to carry vehicular loads, this bridge was changed to a pedestrian only bridge in the early 1990’s.

The City of Tacoma owns, inspects, maintains, and operates 41 vehicular bridges and 4 pedestrian bridges. Bridge program work includes:

Bridge Inspection Program: Perform regularly scheduled in-service bridge inspections. This includes routine, underwater, and fracture critical inspections. Performing scour evaluations for all bridges over water.  The City maintains quality control and quality assurance procedures to maintain a high degree of accuracy and consistency within the inspection program.

The City is required to respond to and report significantly damaged bridges to the FHWA Washington Division Bridge Engineer and take corrective action as needed.

Maintain a bridge/tunnel file for every bridge/tunnel in the cities inventory which follows the Federal Coding Guide criteria and submit bridge inventory data to WSDOT and FHWA for incorporation into the National Bridge Inventory (NBI).

Bridge Load Rating Program: Managing the safe weight capacity of bridges is an important element to bridge safety. The City regularly analyzes the weight capacity of its bridges to meet State and Federal requirements.

Capital Improvement Program: Some bridges require major rehabilitation or replacement to ensure they remain safe and available to the traveling public. Capital projects often involve a multi-year planning, design, and engineering process.

In Tacoma, there are two vehicular moveable bridges over navigable water, the Hylebos and Murray Morgan Bridge. Federal law requires bridges open for marine traffic, with few exceptions. Tacoma is part of the US Coast Guard 13th District. More information is available at www.uscg.mil/d13/.

Tacoma Movable Bridges

Here is a list of vehicular bridges in Tacoma that open for marine traffic.

All clearances are approximate and vessel operator shall request an opening if there is any question of ability to safely pass a vessel under these structures.

How to Request a Bridge Opening

Hylebos Bridge 

Hylebos Bridge opens on request 24 hours a day. Contact the bridge tender on duty, upon approach. Bridge contact can be made by phone at (253) 627-4655, marine radio VHF, Channel 13, or signaling the bridge with one long and one short blast of your horn. It takes approximately two minutes to open the bridge. Tenders will begin all openings approximately at 1,000 yards upon approach.

Murray Morgan Bridge

Murray Morgan Bridge opens by appointment only. Vessels shall contact the bridge tender a minimum of two hours before any requested opening via phone (253) 627-4655 or by marine radio VHF, Channel 13.  However, to obtain a bridge opening between 10 PM and 8 AM, notification must be made to the City of Tacoma bridge tender by 8 PM. In emergencies, openings shall be made as soon as possible upon notification to the City of Tacoma bridge tender.

2023 Map of City Load Restrictions

Important Items to Remember

No overloads are allowed on any bridge within the city limits. To inquire about overloads, contact the Bridge Program Manager (see contact information below)

WSDOT overload permits are only valid within state right of way and does not allow overloads on City owned bridges.

We are rehabilitating and replacing bridges in the city.

• 2018 – Tacoma Avenue South Rehabilitation. 
• 2019 - Puyallup River Bridge (aka Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge B) Bearing Replacement
• 2019 – South M Street Fire Damage Repair.
• 2020 – Harold Moss Memorial Bridge (E 34th Street Bridge Over SR 7) Concrete Spall Repair.
• 2020 – Yakima Avenue Bridge Deck Rehabilitation
• 2020 – Hylebos Bridge Electrical/Mechanical Inspection
• 2020 – Murray Morgan Bridge Electrical/Mechanical Inspection
• 2021 - Hylebos Bridge Software Upgrade
• 2021 - Murray Morgan Bridge Elevator Window Replacement
• 2022 – Murray Morgan Bridge Lift Alignment Repair
• 2022 – E 11th Street Viaduct Bridge Demolition
• 2022 – SR 705 Landslide Repair
• 2022 – Stadium Way to SR 705  SB Bridge Deck Rehabilitation
• 2022 – Stadium Way to SR 705  NB Bridge Deck Rehabilitation
• 2022 – E Dock Street Fencing Repair/Replacement
• 2023 – SR 16 Pedestrian Bridge Graffiti Painting
• 2023 – S. 34th Street E Bridge Deck Rehabilitation
• 2023 – E Lincoln Avenue Bridge (Truss) Seismic Upgrades
  
  
  

We are striving to rehabilitate and replace structures within the City.

• 2023 – S 48th Street Seismic Upgrades 
• 2023 – Stadium Way and Schuster ramps to SR 705 Seismic Upgrades.
• 2023 – River Street Deck Rehabilitation
• 2024 (and beyond) – Fishing Wars Memorial Corridor Replacement.
• 2024 (and beyond) – E 11th Street Corridor Replacement.

Each year, the American Public Works Association (APWA) presents the Public Works Projects of the Year awards to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects, recognizing the alliance between the managing agency, the contractor, the consultant, and their cooperative achievements.

2020 APWA Project of the Year:  Puyallup River Bridge F16A7B Replacement (aka Fishing Wars Memorial Bridge A)

Structures, $25 million–$75 million

APWA 2020 Project of the Year Award

2018 APWA Project of the Year: Tacoma Avenue South Bridge Rehabilitation
Historical Restoration/Preservation, $5 million but less than $25 million

APWA 2018 Project of the Year Award

Current Annual Bridge Report