Serious structural damage to the Dungeness Railroad Bridge in Sequim has resulted in the bridge's recent closure.

Due to a heavy rain in early February 2015, high water levels, rapid currents and debris in the Dungeness River overstressed timber pilings supporting the timber trestle to the west and damaged the walkway of the bridge at Railroad Bridge Park.

Restoration has become a high-priority project, and since the bridge is on tribal land, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has taken the lead in securing the necessary resources to restore the bridge in an environmentally sensitive way. The tribe has secured a Washington State Recreation & Conservation Office Salmon Recovery Fund Board grant award of $172,000 to design a new trestle to be river-process- and salmon-habitat-friendly, and committed $150,000 in insurance claim payments and $200,000 in tribal funds to the ongoing effort to repair damage. The tribe also has reason to believe construction funds in the amount of $1.8 million may be forthcoming from the State Recreation and Conservation Office, according to a press release.

A firm called Otak, from Redmond, has been awarded the design contract.

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is committed to reopening the portion of Olympic Discovery Trail that goes over the bridge as quickly as possible, but has to determine whether it would be more cost effective to repair quickly and then rebuild the trestle, or skip the repair and move directly to the long-term rebuild.