When it comes to backups at the Hood Canal Bridge, ain’t nothing like the real thing.

A Coca-Cola semi-trailer truck jackknifed on the Highway 104 span just after 3 p.m. Friday, shutting down the bridge in both directions for more than seven hours.

Long lines of drivers formed on both sides of the Hood Canal. An early estimate of a reopening at 6 p.m. Feb. 3 was quickly replaced by warnings from the Washington Department of Transportation that the bridge was closed “until further notice.”

The shutdown caused ripple effects throughout the region.

Ian Sterling of Washington State Ferries said a number of ferry crew members on both sides of the water couldn’t report to work due to the closure.

Ferry service was shut down between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island. The 8:30 p.m. sailing Friday from Port Townsend and the 9:10 p.m. departure from Coupeville were called off.

In addition to the Port Townsend-Coupeville ferry run, cancellations were also made on the Edmonds-Kingston route during the bridge closure.

That left just one way off of the Olympic Peninsula Friday: US Highway 101 south.

The semi-trailer truck that crashed on the Hood Canal Bridge struck the concrete barrier on one side of the span. 

According to the Department of Transportation, a section of the barrier was displaced along with the guardrail, and there was also some damage to the bridge deck itself toward the edge where the barrier sits.

Mark Krulish, a Department of Transportation spokesman, said there was no indication that any pieces of the bridge were knocked into Hood Canal.

“We had concerns about a fuel spill as the truck’s fuel tank had been punctured, but our crews were able to simply pump the fuel out before it was towed,” Krulish said in an email to The Leader.

The region was buffeted by high winds Friday, which may have been a factor in the crash, according to Trooper Katherine Weatherwax of the Washington State Patrol.

Weatherwax said the wreck was still under investigation.

No injuries were reported.

The backup on both sides stretched for miles, and many drivers simply gave up and turned around on the highway instead of waiting for the bridge to reopen.

Eventually, two trucks with state transportation crews from Shelton arrived at the bridge around 8 p.m. Friday; one loaded with an excavator, another with pieces of replacement concrete barriers. 

Maintenance crews placed a temporary barrier and the Department of Transportation’s Bridge Preservation Office came to inspect the damage. Once the barrier was in place, workers at the Hood Canal Bridge performed a test opening to make sure that the bridge would open its entire length for marine traffic. 

The span reopened at about 10:30 p.m. Friday.

The bridge was scheduled to be shut down to one lane Tuesday for four hours to remove a section of barrier wall that was damaged in the crash.