Submersible device used to peer under Hood Canal Bridge to inspect broken cable

SHINE — State Department of Transportation workers used a remote-control submersible during slack tide Thursday afternoon in an effort to find out why a cable holding one of the 43 anchors of the Hood Canal Bridge has gone slack.

Results of that inspection were not available Thursday evening.

The slack cable was discovered Wednesday during a routine inspection at the floating bridge connecting Jefferson and Kitsap counties.

Divers went 100 feet below the surface of the water Wednesday afternoon without discovering what made the cable appear to be disconnected from the anchor, which is 350 feet deep, according to Lloyd Brown, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

The cable loops through a connector on the anchor and reattaches to the bridge, which allows more flexibility for tidal changes through the use of hydraulics.