Work to repair the 80-year-old State Routed 169 Green River bridge between Black Diamond and Enummclaw is ahead of schedule.

Tri-State construction crews have finished excavating 20,000 truck loads of material from an area just south of the bridge six days early. Workers are now planning for phase two.

The Green River bridge, also known as the Kummer Bridge, has been closed since Nov. 18 when bridge engineers noticed small but significant movement in the south pier and in the soil which support the bridge. Engineers determined the bridge was too dangerous to allow traffic to cross.

Geotechnical engineers are working to stabilize a large ancient landslide that has been pushing the bridge slowly to the southwest for years.

In the next phase, crews will drill a series of 55 shafts deep into the bedrock. Some shafts will extend 90 feet, others will extend 45 feet. They will fill these shafts with varying strengths of concrete. These shafts will tie together to create a retaining wall measuring 160 feet long. This wall will protect the pier.

Crews will be on site in February and will work around the clock to build this retaining wall.