Walla Walla City Council approves $1.2 million bridge maintenance project
By Dan Thesman on Friday, April 24th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – The Walla Walla City Council unanimously approved a $1,214,649 contract Wednesday night to perform critical preventative maintenance on nine aging bridges, a move Assistant City Engineer Monte Puyman said will save millions in long-term replacement costs.
In a 7-0 vote, the council awarded the bid for the citywide preventative bridge maintenance project to Mukilteo-based Combined Construction Inc. The project is entirely funded by a federal grant through the Washington State Department of Transportation, requiring no local matching funds.
Puymon told the council the work focuses on bridges crossing Mill Creek, most of which are over 100 years old.
“This is preventative maintenance; it is not rehabilitating the bridge structure,” Puymon explained, noting that existing load restrictions for heavy vehicles will remain in place. “It is going to prevent the continued deterioration rate so that we keep the bridges in the condition that they’re already in.”
The work addresses a common engineering failure in aging concrete girders. Over decades of use, the tension at the bottom of concrete beams causes the material to crack, exposing steel rebar to the elements.
“As those rebars get exposed, they corrode, they create rust, they lose their strength,” Puymon said.
Crews will use steel brushes to remove rust, coat the metal with protective epoxy, and re-encase the sections in concrete or mortar.
Puymon contrasted the $1.2 million cost to maintain nine bridges with the upcoming $14 million price tag to replace just two bridges – on Fourth and Sixth avenues – scheduled for next year.
“We’re maintaining nine bridges for less than one-tenth of that cost,” Puymon said. “It’s money well spent.”
The project also includes concrete sidewalk repairs on bridge approaches and crack repairs to abutments and wing walls.
