City of Seattle closes Pier 57 for public safety

The city of Seattle announced the Department of Construction and Inspections will close Pier 57 on Friday evening due to its proximity to Pier 58.

Public access and businesses on Pier 57, where The Seattle Great Wheel and Miners Landing are located, will be closed at 5 p.m.

On Sunday, there was a partial collapse on Pier 58. Two workers were injured.

“Our top priorities continue to be public safety, the safety of our construction team and protecting critical infrastructure,” said Marshall Foster, director of Seattle’s Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects. “We support SDCI in taking this necessary action and will continue to work with waterfront partners and businesses to both protect public safety and minimize impacts.”

>>RELATED: City releases video showing collapse of Pier 58

An inspection was done after the partial collapse, the city said, and the inspection found an increased failure risk exists from the remaining concrete structure at the south end of Pier 58, and the potential for resulting damage to Pier 57.

The city said there is no damage to Pier 57, Pier 59 (Seattle Aquarium), or the adjacent seawall. The Seattle Aquarium is open and will remain open.

“We agree with the engineer’s assessment and believe this increased risk to public safety requires temporary closure of Pier 57 until the hazard is mitigated,” said Nathan Torgelson, director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections. “Per the letter from the engineer, Pier 58 is structurally integrated with Pier 57 to the south. If a spontaneous collapse of Pier 58 were to occur, it could present an imminent hazard to the adjacent Pier 57. As a precaution, we have posted a red tag on Pier 57 which will prevent access and operations on the pier until further notice.”

Cox Media Group