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It’s time once again for the yearly cleaning and inspection of the Agate Pass Bridge.

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This is the one and only bridge between Bainbridge Island and Kitsap County. It’s also a key nesting ground for peregrine falcons.

As you can imagine, the falcons make a bit of a mess on the bridge. So do all the other birds that call the bridge home. Add that mess to the grime and mud of travel, and this bridge gets pretty dirty.

That dirt, over time, can damage the bridge. This is the third straight year the state will spend two weeks giving it a good scrubbing.

The Washington Department of Transportation does the cleaning before the falcons show up. It’s on the docket for next week.

“We want to get out there before the nesting begins,” WSDOT’s Doug Adamson said.

Cleaning and inspection usually causes up to 30-minute delays along Highway 305, which handles approximately 22,000 vehicles per day.

“This is a key link for people who not only live and work on Bainbridge Island, but for those who use it as transit,” Adamson said.

Highway 305 will be down to one lane of alternating traffic across the bridge, starting Feb. 13. Work will continue through Feb. 16.

Crews will stop for the President’s Day holiday weekend before resuming Feb. 21. It will then continue through the end of that week.

“We have modified the hours to try to avoid the morning rush and the afternoon rush hours,” Adamson said. “We will be working during the daytime from 8:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.”

I know what you’re thinking: Why will it take two weeks to clean this bridge?

As it turns out, blowing the dirt and debris shouldn’t take that long, but this cleaning is labor-intensive. Because the bridge goes over Agate Passage, workers can’t simply power wash the dirt into the water. The work must be done by hand.

“Crews are out there with five-gallon buckets,” Adamson said. “They use little whisk brooms. They use hand-held shovels to scoop up the material that’s fallen down on the bridge. And they haul it up in buckets and take it away.”

You might also be wondering why this work can’t be done at night. It turns out it’s a safety issue. The workers are in buckets — above and below the bridge — and they need space. And because they are also inspecting the bridge as they clean, they need good lighting.

Ferry riders and Bainbridge Island residents are being asked to delay their trips, carpool, or telecommute during this two-week cleaning.

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