TACOMA — The first three huge concrete pontoons built in Tacoma to replace part of the Hood Canal Bridge are set to be towed to Seattle, with two scheduled to leave today.

Tugs will tow the 8,300-ton concrete pontoons from their temporary mooring facilities in Tacoma’s Blair Waterway to Seattle’s Pier 66, according to Sarah Lamb of the state Department of Transportation, in a written statement.

The pontoons, the first of 14 to be built, were floated into the waterway out of Concrete Technologies’ graving yard by Transportation and project contractor Kiewit-General of Poulsbo on Dec. 6.

Each 35-mile tow will take approximately 17 hours. The pontoons will be towed at a rate of 2 mph.

Weather-dependent

Tows are dependent upon the weather.

The third pontoon is scheduled to be towed to Seattle next week.

The floating Hood Canal Bridge, which opened in 1961, is the lifeline for food, fuel and tourists to the North Olympic Peninsula, linking it with the Kitsap Peninsula and the Puget Sound area.