VIDEO: Broken expansion joint on I-5 snarls traffic in Seattle

SEATTLE — A Washington State Department of Transportation bridge maintenance team repaired an expansion joint that came loose on Interstate 5 Friday morning.

The steel joint popped up in the southbound lanes at the Spokane Street Bridge in South Seattle.

Expansion joints hold concrete slabs together on the interstate and allow them to expand and contract.

WSDOT tweeted about the issue at 3:12 a.m. The two right lanes were closed, which backed up traffic during the morning commute. To ease some of the congestion, the HOV lane was opened to all traffic during the morning commute.

A tweet from WSDOT said the lanes were expected to stay closed until sometime Friday afternoon.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Rich Johnson told WSDOT officials that 10 cars hit the raised joint.

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