I-90 Closed After Oversized Load Damages Overpass Near Cle Elum

A portion of the westbound lanes of Interstate-90 (I-90) near Cle Elum have been closed after an overpass was heavily damaged late Tuesday.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Jeremy Weber says a truck carrying an oversized load struck the concrete structure at the exit for Bullfrog Road (Exit 80) just west of Cle Elum at about 10:15 last night.

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"It looks like the overpass sustained significant damage. I was sent a picture of it (overpass structure) by another trooper and you can see there's a lot of the cable structure underneath the concrete sticking out and hanging down. I'm not an engineer, but from what it looks like, I'd say it's going to be a pretty big deal to get fixed."

Weber adds that a detour has been established in the area, but it's unknown how long it will remain in place, and motorists should plan to take an alternate route or experience significant delays.

"They have been detouring traffic right there at the exit where you get off at the exit and then get right back on I-90. But even though there is a detour, going down to a single lane could potentially create quite a backup in the westbound lanes of I-90, so my advice would be to find an alternate route if you don't want to deal with all the headache this is going to cause."

The Washington State Department of Transportation is reportedly sending a crew of structural engineers to the site to evaluate the damage to the overpass.