Henderson Bay power towers to be replaced

The familiar towers that greet visitors to the Key Peninsula in Purdy will be disappearing in the next few years.

The power lines that cross Henderson Bay and the Burley Lagoon will be replaced. Originally built in 1925, the towers are now in need of a serious upgrade. After all, they were approved as far back as the Coolidge administration. The foundation and the steel are deteriorating.

“They’ve reached the end of their useful life,” engineer and project manager James Blessing said.

Soil samples from in the bay were collected Tuesday; inland soil samples will be taken the week of Oct. 12.

A meeting to update the public on the project will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at Purdy Elementary School.

The project is managed by Tacoma Public Utilities. It will be in the design and permit phase likely for the rest of the year and into 2016.

The total number of towers will go from eight to five, Blessing said.

According to the project website, the public will see the first signs of the project when a barge moves into the bay to collect soil samples. The company GeoEngineers will manage the sampling and drill to the bottom of the bay. Some drilling will take place near the inland towers.

Soil will be drilled during daytime working hours to prevent the impact of noise.

Drilling will occur in the bay and near the inland towers, so those that commute on Route 302 should not fret about more than the usual rush hour backups for now.

“We won’t have anything impact 302 at this phase of the job,” Blessing said.

For more information on the project, visit myTPU.org/tacomapower/fish-wildlife-environment/cushman-hydro-project/henderson-bay-project.html or call Nora Doyle at (253) 502-8117.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Henderson Bay power towers to be replaced."