First set of SR 520 pontoons expected to be finished by April

New pontoons for the State Route 520 floating bridge are being built by crews in a massive project, and the first six should be done by April.

KIRO 7’s Richard Thompson traveled to Aberdeen Thursday and was given access to see the new pontoons being built.

“We are on schedule, we’re working a lot of hours right now,” said Phil Wallace of Kiewit General.

Each pontoon costs between $8 and$9 million dollars to build.

Crews spent 19 hours a day building the first six of 33, and the project employed about 350 people -- half of them are from Grays Harbor County.

“This was great that we were able to build this facility in Aberdeen and actually put local people to work,” said Wallace.

The chamber where the pontoons are currently in will be flooded with water and floated out to be used for the new bridge.

The last set of pontoons will be finished in Aberdeen and are not expected to be finished for another two years.