01:37 PM PDT on Wednesday, August 4, 2004

By JIM PARKER, kgw.com Staff

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A portion of the Salmon Creek Bridge became unstable Wednesday prompting road crews to briefly close Interstate-5 northbound and divert traffic to Interstate-205, transportation officials said.

KGW Sky 8 Photo I-5 northbound going over the Salmon Creek Bridge was closed due to stability concerns.

A crane was doing some demolition work and removing old girders when crews noticed the stability problem about 11 a.m., according to the Washington State Dept. of Transportation spokeswoman Jilayne Jordan.

Road workers were able to ensure the bridge's stability about two and a half hours later, reopening the bridge to all traffic at 1:30 p.m., she said.

During the clsoure, northbound I-5 was shutdown in Vancouver from State Route 500 to 134th Street, with traffic diverted to I-205.

Officials had also closed 117th Street running underneath the freeway at the time the bridge problem was discovered.