After five years and six miles of track and tunnel construction, the $898-million Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension project is nearing completion without a single lost-time injury in more than 4 million work hours.
“We think this is some sort of a world record,” says Mike Aparicio, project manager for Eastside LRT Constructors, the design-build joint venture of Washington Group International, Obayashi Corp. and Shimmick Construction Corp., which holds the $600-million construction contract. “We have not been able to find [any other large federally funded transportation projects] that have had this safety performance,” he says.