California

The first new terminal in 40 years for the Washington State Dept. of Transportation-operated Washington State Ferries, the country’s largest ferry system, came with tricky site conditions and cultural significance that impacted both design and construction for a $187-million project split into multiple contracts to ensure on-time delivery. 

Built to help fish traverse the Deschutes River, Tumwater Falls Hatchery welcomes 250,000 annual park visitors and 3.8 million Chinook salmon each year.

The Gideon Street Overcrossing in Portland, Ore., now links the old and the new with a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over five separate railway tracks, crossing the TriMet light rail and Union Pacific Railroad tracks, and restoring an important connection in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood. 

As a telecommunications company, T-Mobile US knows the power of strong connections. The team renovating its Bellevue, Wash., headquarters paid special attention to connecting multiple buildings throughout the campus, which spans more than 1 million sq ft of office space.

Built in 1908, Seattle’s historic Webster Elementary School underwent repeat renovations in the subsequent decades that packed the structure with engineering surprises. 

With multiple police departments housed in aging and undersized facilities across Salem, Ore., the city needed a new headquarters to bring 29 departments under one roof. 

As the first mass timber structure in the city of Hillsboro, Ore., the Hidden Creek Community Center reflects its wooded surroundings.

Time was on the side of the team building the California Creek Fish Passage Project, designed to replace the stream crossings beneath four separate roadways to better support the area’s fish and wildlife.  

Installed in 1962 for Seattle’s World Fair, the city’s monorail electrical system at Seattle Center and Westlake Center stations was overdue for an upgrade.

Situated on a hilltop with panoramic views of four iconic Northwest mountains, Willamette National Cemetery’s natural landscape both helped and hindered its phased expansion. The design-build project for the Dept. of Veteran Affairs (VA) expanded and improved the cemetery after a 38.2-acre land acquisition.

Seattle’s Watershed Building is designed to live up to its name, with sustainable features that complement and protect the environment.

Located on a quarter block on 2nd and Stewart in downtown Seattle, the Emerald is a 41-story condominium tower with 263 residential units, five levels of below-grade parking and retail space on the ground level. The 381,571-sq-ft tower features such amenities as a fitness center, yoga studio, dog washing room and outdoor terrace. The 39th floor will be home to an outdoor space for residents.

The Copper River office project for Alaska Airlines is transforming a 7-acre site opposite the airline’s headquarters into a light and airy campus with an intricate, sustainable landscape.

When reconstructing a three-mile segment of Glenn Highway in Eagle Creek, Alaska, engineers had to consider two types of travelers: human drivers and spawning fish.

Despite design changes and a worldwide pandemic, work on Sound Transit’s operations and maintenance facility remained on track.

Rich data from Dodge Data & Analytics.

Updates about construction professionals in the California/Northwest region.

Each year, through ENR’s Regional Best Projects competition, the magazine highlights some of the area’s most innovative projects.

The more professional services a company can offer, the more opportunities it will find for future work. And when it comes to utility work, W.A. Rasic (WAR) has a diverse portfolio to showcase its capabilities. 

Overall, specialty contractors in California and the Northwest reported mixed revenue totals last year, in large part due to project delays stemming from the pandemic. 

When famed architect Frank Gehry agreed to design The Grand, a $1-billion, mixed-use complex in downtown Los Angeles, the construction team expected something unconventional.

The project spanning five square miles will generate more than 2,200 GWh per year of renewable energy.