Washington state has started work on a project designed to raise the height of freeway overpasses on one interstate so some trucks can avoid a 40-mile detour.

Tall trucks can't use Interstate 90 through Moses Lake because the five overpasses there are too low. The $6.6 million project will raise four of the overpasses and remove another. The tallest overpass has a 15.6-foot vertical clearance, which is a foot less than the federal standard, officials say, forcing many tall semi-tractor trailers to make a 40-mile detour off I-90.
Washington Department of Transportation officials say work crews will keep four lanes of freeway traffic open throughout most of the construction. The first phase of the project is expected to be complete next summer and the second portion should begin next spring.