A Pacific Northwest dam removal project, said by its owner, the National Park Service, to be the largest of its type in the U.S., is one step closer to beginning after the recent completion of a new water treatment plant in Port Angeles, Wash. NPS officials expect contractors to proceed with dismantling Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Olympic Peninsula in 2012. Photo: National Park Service. Demolition and removal is to start in 2012. Congress approved removal of both Elwha River impoundments in 1993. Demolition was scheduled for 2009, until rising costs for the $308-million project delayed the start
Tamarack place, an 83-unit, low-income housing complex with 10,000 sq ft of retail space in Seattle, got an infusion of cash through a $7-million award from the $13.5 million in stimulus funds the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development gave to the Seattle Housing Authority. An additional $6.5 million will fund infrastructure on the northern portion of the site. Seattle, Wash. Photo: Seattle Housing Authority Development includes low-income housing, infrastructure and retail space. Related Links: Stimulus: A Snapshot of Top Shovel-, Wrench- and Pencil-Ready Projects American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding “allows us to make up for the loss of
Contractors building two segments of a 13-mile-long sewage conveyance tunnel near Seattle have devised plans to fix in place two stalled tunnel-boring machines that had been working in poor soils and high groundwater pressure. Related Links: Outfall Pipe Floated and Stuck for Washington State Plant Seattle's Brightwater System Moving Toward Construction The tunnel is a key portion of King County, Wash.’s $1.8-billion Brightwater wastewater treatment project. The rims of the cutter heads on the 17.5-ft-dia Herrenknecht slurry machines were damaged, allowing rock and boulders to get stuck, says Gunars Sreibers, King County project manager. The general contractor, the joint venture
Related Links: Goose Creek Correctional Center PNNL Physical Sciences Facility Peace Arch US Land Port of Entry Egg-Shaped Digester Family Housing Replacement, Denali Village Brightwater Treatment Plant Main facility North Kenmore Portal Bravern I and II Amazon Headquarters Microsoft Building 98 Broadstone Enso Apartments Mercy Corps International Headquarters Good Samaritan Hospital Patient Care Tower Virginia Mason Hospital Addition Valley Medical Center Emergency Services Tower Shriners Children's Hospital Expansion and Renovation Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center West Tower Expansion Snohomish High School Modernization & Addition Oak Harbor High School Deer Park High School The 2008 Northwest Construction Top Construction starts list
The eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge opened on June 3, eight days ahead of a schedule that was revised after a 15-month delay in 2005. Crews finished installing 17 pontoons for the 1.5-mile state Route 104 crossing. The world’s longest floating bridge over salt water links Washington state’s Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas about 60 miles north of Seattle. Photo: Kiewit-General Trusses are designed to withstand rough winds. Kiewit-General Construction Co., Poulsbo, Wash., earned a $600,000 bonus for the early opening. The $490-million project took six years, due in part to a 15-month delay after an ancient Native American
Demolition began on June 1 at one of the largest-ever dam-removal projects in the U.S. Since 1921, the Savage Rapids Dam on the Rogue River near Grants Pass, Ore., has provided irrigation, but at a cost to the coho salmon that spawn in the river. A consent decree in 2000 capped a decade of legal fights and set the stage for the demolition. Photo: Slayden Construction Group Removal will open 500 miles of river for spawning. The 39-ft-high, 500-ft-long concrete-buttress dam was built in 1921 by the Grants Pass Irrigation District for irrigation only and provides no electricity or flood
The general contractor and structural engineer involved in a November, 2006 crane collapse in Bellevue, Wash., settled a civil lawsuit with the family of the man who died when the 210-ft tower crane’s boom hit his apartment. Details of the settlement, announced April 20, were not disclosed. Carl Amundson Crane mast fell across excavation. Related Links: Stabilizing Site a Priority After Crane Topples Crane Expert Raises Safety Bar The toppled tower crane also damaged Plaza 305, an office building adjacent to the site. Matthew Ammon, a Microsoft attorney, lived across the street from the Tower 333 site, where the crane
For U.S. military veterans, finding a civilian job has long been only half the battle. Adjusting to a nonmilitary home life and work world has been equallly challenging. The plumbers’ and pipefitters’ union is hoping to ease that switchover for veterans of recent Middle East conflicts by including two weeks of “transition training” as part of its new 18-week Veterans In Piping (VIP) welding pre-apprentice program. The extra training helps veterans, particularly those with physical and emotional war injuries, handle workplace biases and gives potential employers more confidence that their new hires can handle civilian jobsite stresses. Photo: United Association
The Washington State Dept. off Ecology has proposed a fine of $147,000 against Hanson Pipe and Precast, Tacoma, Wash. for alleged violations of its sand and gravel permit and failure to treat contaminated stormwater. Ecology inspectors cited the company for 27 violations of the pollutant levels specified in its sand and gravel permit from the second quarter of 2007 through the second quarter of 2008. “We will continue our efforts toward and will cooperate fully with Washington State’s Department of Ecology to rectify this situation," says Clifford Hahne, senior vice president of Hanson Building Products’ West region in a written