• The City of Vancouver owns and maintains 18 bridges as part of our transportation infrastructure, including the Fruit Valley Road Bridge that spans the BNSF mainline and the twin Fourth Plain Boulevard Bridges that span the BNSF Vancouver rail yard.
• Pursuant to State and Federal requirements, the City is required to inspect these three bridges on a regular basis to ensure they continue to be within the established structural parameters associated with their original design and current standards.
• Due to the location of these structures and the complexity of their design, inspections are performed using a UBIT (Under Bridge Inspection Truck).
• The City has historically contracted with the Washington State Department of Transportation to perform these UBIT inspection services. The attached agreement renews this service with WSDOT through 2032.

Goal 1: Ensure our built urban environment is one of the safest, most environmentally responsible and well maintained in the Pacific Northwest

Goal 1, Objective 1.1: Develop and maintain a safe, balanced and innovative transportation system that will meet the needs of future generations

Goal 1, Objective 1.2: Ensure our infrastructure, including buildings and utilities, is safe, environmentally responsible and well maintained

The City of Vancouver owns and maintains 18 bridges throughout our transportation network. These bridges span waterways, railroads, open spaces and streets. This includes three bridges consisting of the Fruit Valley Road Bridge that spans the BNSF mainline and the twin Fourth Plain Boulevard Bridges that span the BNSF Vancouver rail yard.

Due to the age and condition of these bridges and pursuant to State and Federal requirements, the City is required to complete inspections of these three bridges at a minimum of every 24 months.

Because these bridges span an active railway zone, inspections must be completed from the bridge itself using a vehicle designed specifically for this purpose. An Under Bridge Inspection Truck (UBIT) is capable of parking on the bridge and extending a platform to the underside of the structure to allow for inspections. The UBIT vehicle is unique and is only a select number of agencies in the Pacific Northwest own these specialized vehicles. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) owns several UBIT vehicles and provides inspection services to a handful of local agencies including the City of Vancouver. Furthermore, they offer this service at a competitive fee with ample flexibility in the scheduling of the inspection work.

The attached agreement represents the terms and conditions under which WSDOT will continue to provide this inspection service through the end of 2032.