Regional transit builder SoundTransit adopted a two-part strategy when it went to bid on tunneling work for University Link, a 3.15-mi underground extension of light rail from downtown Seattle to the University of Washington. The project includes construction of two twin-bore tunnels and two stations.
SoundTransit, the regional transit builder and operator in Central Puget Sound, divided the tunneling work into two separate contracts. A $153.5-million contract—$20.7 million less than the engineer’s estimate of $174.3 million—for 1 mi of tunneling from a new Capitol Hill station to downtown Seattle was awarded in August to JCM U-Link, a joint venture of Jay Dee Contractors of Livonia, Mich.; Frank Collucio Construction Co. of Seattle; and Michaels Corp. of Brownsville, Wis.