In Memoriam: Archie Allen Posted 07.08.16 Northwest Region Bridge Maintenance Superintendent Archie Allen passed away at home over the Independence Day weekend. The following message is from Northwest Region Assistant Regional Administrator for Maintenance Dave McCormick: It is with great sadness that I convey that Archie Allen passed away at home over the weekend. Archie was a great man and a great WSDOT Manager and Superintendent. He was truly one of those larger than life people that you wanted to be around. He was valued as an expert at what he did. He knew every bridge in the Region, most of them by number and had personally inspected all of them. Our designers, consultants, the media, our bridge office and our construction offices and contractors valued both his input and his One DOT approach to his work. I remember Archie for his grace under the pressure of countless emergencies, be it the Nisqually Earthquake or any number of floods or wind events at the SR 520 Bridge. He took great pride in the new SR 520 structure and the Bridge Maintenance divisions role in delivering the project. He was always an advocate for his crew and for bridge maintenance. Managing the maintenance of over half of the states bridges, he instituted the first tier one bridge inspection class in the state, worked to develop much of our Homeland Security plans for our vulnerable infrastructure, developed our scour critical bridge procedures and protocols and worked tirelessly for his staff. Archie was one of the most recognizable people in the Region. He was a great presence in interviews. You knew when he talked about how the bridge team knew their bridges so well they could tell by the creaks and groans whether there was something wrong, that he and his team were people you wanted to be entrusted with WSDOTs bridges. Above all he was concerned about his crew and was dedicated to improving their ability to do their job well and safely. I will miss Archie greatly and I know all of you will too. Please join me in our sincere thoughts and prayers for Archie and his family and to the NWR bridge maintenance team. We do not know when a memorial service may be planned locally for Archie. We will keep you updated. Dave