A 103-year-old, single-lane bridge that provides access to Mount Rainier National Park and the Carbon River Ranger Station has been closed indefinitely due to its deterioration, the Washington State Department of Transportation said in a news release Monday.
The State Route 165 Carbon River Fairfax Bridge is closed to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic effective immediately, according to WSDOT.
The 494-foot-long bridge is at milepost 11.5, three miles south of Carbonado in Pierce County. The bridge provided access to Mount Rainier National Park’s Mowich Lake entrance and other outdoor recreation areas. A recent inspection revealed new deterioration of the steel supports of the arched bridge, which goes over the Carbon River, according to WSDOT.
“In the coming weeks, WSDOT bridge engineers will perform further analysis on the bridge. Until those results are final, WSDOT is closing the bridge as a safety precaution,” the news release said.
Last year WSDOT signed an emergency declaration that expedited work for an emergency detour route for first responders and local property owners south of the bridge, which is not open to the public. In July 2024, the bridge’s load rating was reduced to 16,000 pounds, the third restriction imposed on the bridge since 2008, according to WSDOT. In 2013, commercial vehicles were restricted from crossing the bridge.
“There is no funding available to replace the bridge at this point. Years of deferred preservation work due to limited preservation funding resulted in the updated weight restrictions and now the indefinite closure,” WSDOT said.
The bridge first opened to travelers in 1921 and the average life of a state-owned vehicle bridge is 51 years, according to WSDOT, which regularly monitors the conditions of all the state’s approximate 3,600 bridges.