Category Archives for 520 Replacement

Another 520 Bridge pontoon heading this way

20130515-215724.jpgImage: Montlaker

The second cycle of new 520 Bridge pontoons that floated out of Aberdeen last month is now on the move, with the first tugboat delivery to Lake Washington expected this afternoon between 3-6pm. The surreal sight of a 360-foot-long concrete box floating through the Ballard Locks and Montlake Cut could make tonight’s rush hour commute more interesting than usual. The other new pontoons are, for the time being, heading to various moorage sites around the state, as crews are still working to fix the cracks in the first cycle pontoons delivered to Medina last summer.

Via WSDOT:

Drivers, boaters and residents around Lake Washington should be on the lookout for State Route 520 bridge pontoons moving through the lake this month.
Contractor crews will float one pontoon through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard between 3 and 6 p.m. this afternoon, Wednesday, May 15. A pontoon already on the lake will be moved from its current staging location to another location on the lake, making way for a pontoon from Aberdeen to use that staging area when it arrives on the lake later this month.

Two of the six pontoons recently constructed in Aberdeen have been towed to a moorage site in Tacoma and a third is on its way later this week. The final two pontoons from the second cycle of pontoons built in Aberdeen will remain moored in Grays Harbor until they are needed for bridge construction.

On Lake Washington, crews will prepare four pontoons from the first cycle built in Aberdeen for additional modifications recommended by an expert review panel in February. The Washington State Department of Transportation is coordinating with floating bridge contractor Kiewit/General/Manson, A Joint Venture, to finalize the details and timeline of the work.

More 520 Bridge pontoons pop out of Aberdeen

20130429-045857.jpgImage: WSDOT Flickr stream

The second cycle of pontoons for the new 520 Bridge floated out of the casting basin in Aberdeen early this morning, complete with additional post-tensioning to avoid the cracks that plagued the first cycle last year. “We have now constructed 24 out of the 77 bridge pontoons we need for the new floating bridge,” said Julie Meredith, SR 520 program director. The pontoons will be moored in Grays Harbor for inspections before being towed to Lake Washington when needed.

Despite the progress, it is not clear when the new bridge will be done. Ambitious hope for an early opening in 2014 ended with the Gregoire Governorship. WSDOT’s construction contract with Kiewit General requires a July 2015 completion, yet fixes to the first set of pontoons and additional structure for those remaining are adding unknown cost and time to the project.

WSDOT is in negotiations with its contractors for pontoon issues encountered in spring 2012 and has not made an official determination on any potential schedule effects.

Another cloud of uncertainty hangs over 520 due to the legislature’s failure to pass a transportation budget before the end of session yesterday. That work will be left for a special session, likely to begin in mid-May. Lawmakers will have to decide to press ahead with the piecemeal West Approach Bridge North, scheduled for June 2014, or wait until full funding is secured to complete the Seattle-side of 520. Seeing how an aggressive schedule has so far cost the state $100 million in avoidable mistakes — and the likelihood of a public vote to fill the $1.4 billion funding gap — there’s good reason to think a pause is in order.

520 Bridge closed this weekend

Image: WSDOT Flickr stream

The 520 Bridge will close for weekend construction tonight at 11pm and reopen Monday, April 22nd at 5am. Prepare to take the long route across I-90 if heading to or from the Eastside this weekend. The highway will be closed from Montlake Blvd to I-405.

From WSDOT:

During the closure, crews will also install new roadway lighting and drainage near 84th Avenue Northeast and begin paving the final Evergreen Point Road roadway across the new lid. The work is weather-dependent and could be delayed in the event of inclement weather. We will keep the public informed if the closure needs to be postponed.

And news for boaters:

Boaters, set your sails: SR 520 east navigation channel will be open May 2-5 for Opening Day weekend

Opening Day of boating season is right around the corner on May 4. Boaters are encouraged to be aware of the latest conditions on Lake Washington related to SR 520 floating bridge construction. Crews are constructing the new bridge, and 11 pontoons are currently on the lake along with cofferdams, barges and other equipment.

Since spring 2012, the east navigation channel near Medina has remained closed to traffic for construction, meaning vessels over 45 feet in height must use the center drawspan to navigate through the bridge.

However, there are several 2013 boating season special dates when the east navigation channel will be open to boaters:

  • May 2 to May 5 (Opening Day of Boating Season weekend)
  • May 24 to May 26 (Memorial Day weekend)
  • July 4 (Independence Day)
  • Aug. 1 to Aug. 4 (Seafair weekend)
  • Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 (Labor Day weekend)

Also, expect more pontoons to arrive from Aberdeen soon. Another float out is expected next week — this time with water tight concrete — we hope.

House Transportation amendment requires full funding for 520 construction, delays WABN

Existing + WABN phase + full 520 Replacement. Image: WSDOT

Existing + WABN phase + full 520 Replacement. Image: WSDOT

Publicola reports that an amendment to the House Transportation Bill, sponsored by Rep. Jamie Pedersen and supported by Seattle’s delegation of legislative leaders, would require full funding for the Seattle portion of the S.R. 520 Replacement and HOV Program before construction can begin.

In a reverse of the infamous “stick it to Seattle” clause in the state legislation authorizing the waterfront tunnel, the state house passed its $8.4 billion transportation budget this morning with an amendment sponsored by Rep. Jamie Pederson [sic] (D-43, Capitol Hill) that prevents construction of the western portion of the 520 bridge unless the budget includes money to fully fund the west side of the new bridge in Seattle.

Pedersen’s Seattle amendment says, in part, that:

the Washington state department of transportation shall not engage in or contract for any construction on any portion of state route number 520 between Interstate 5 and the western landing of the floating bridge until the legislature has authorized the imposition of tolls on the Interstate 90 floating bridge and/or otherfunding sufficient to complete construction of the state route number 520 bridge replacement and HOV program..

This is good news for Seattle, but it also provides a political nudge to the senate to sign off on tolling I-90, a controversial, but likely key, source of funding for the project.

“Good news for Seattle” is major news for Montlake and Madison Park. ”The purpose of the amendment is to delay any construction west of Madison Park (including WABN) until the earlier of July 1, 2015 or approval by the legislature of a plan for full funding of the entire west section of the 520 project,” said Rep. Pedersen this afternoon. Should the amendment survive this legislative session, the currently planned West Approach Bridge North phase of construction would not begin as planned in June 2014.

The amendment calls for the “least amount of construction” to connect the new floating bridge now under construction to the existing West Approach:

.. the “western landing of the floating bridge” means the least amount of new construction necessary to connect the new floating bridge to the existing state route number 520 and anchor the west end of the new floating bridge.

Going forward, WSDOT could scale back the 6-lane WABN plan to merge into 4-lanes at the “western landing” rather than at the Montlake mainland. The disruptive construction through Union Bay, Foster Island and the Arboretum would be put off until the full corridor was designed, funded and shovel ready.

The amendment also gives WSDOT chance to pause and recover from the costly design errors that have plagued the floating bridge section. With an expert review of the project due later this year and a new Transportation Secretary getting established, halting the aggressive construction schedule makes good fiscal sense — especially as Mercer Island, Eastside and freight interests gather support against tolling Interstate 90.

520 News: Bridge closure weekend + project review + last anchor drop *UPDATE* Closure postponed

Images: WSDOT Flickr

WSDOT has canceled the 520 Bridge closure scheduled for this weekend due to “expected inclement weather that could affect the construction work.” The work will be made up at a later date. As you were.

Time for another 520 Bridge closure weekend. This one will be from 11pm Friday to 5am Monday — from Montlake Blvd in Seattle to I-405 in Bellevue. Plan accordingly for trips to and from the Eastside as I-90 traffic tends to get ugly when 520 shuts down. The I-90 express lanes will aim westbound on Saturday and Sunday to help folks get to events in Seattle.

Crews will shift the eastbound lanes over the weekend, so commuters should expect a new route through construction zones starting next week. “On Monday, eastbound commuters will need to pay extra attention after crossing the floating bridge,” said Brian Dobbins, construction manager for WSDOT. “The new traffic layout will take drivers under a newly built section of roadway for the first time.”

In other 520 news, WSDOT Secretary Lynn Peterson today announced a six month review of state mega-projects including the new 520 Bridge and Highway 99 tunnel in Seattle. This comes on the heels of “discipline letters” issued to workers responsible for design and oversight flaws in the 520 pontoons. Former WSDOT project manager Ron Paananen will lead the review, reporting on where things went wrong with 520 while also recommending changes to other projects if similar institutional problems are found.

Meanwhile, floating bridge construction continues on the lake. An important milestone will be reached during the Friday morning commute, when crews will drop the last of the massive anchors into the waters off Madison Park. Eventually cables attached to these anchors will secure the new bridge against wind and waves. Here’s a typical “fluke anchor” under construction in Kenmore.

Duwamish Tribe opposes 520 expansion through ancestral homelands

20130228-221556.jpg

The March Montlake Flyer features a letter from Cecile A. Hansen, Chairperson of the Duwamish Tribal Council, and great, great grandniece of Chief Seattle.

As the indigenous people of this area, we, like the 520 Coalition group, are the minority. The Duwamish were banned from their indigenous lands and waters, essentially the City of Seattle, over 150 years ago and most (if not all) the city is built on top of our ancestral homelands and our longhouses which were burned. Today, we have recently learned (from an anonymous SDOT worker) that our artifacts are still being discarded and thrown away like trash. So today, we feel if there is any natural beauty left to this land then just let it be and stop invading the homes of your own ancestors in the name of progress. We feel enough is enough already!

The Duwamish Tribe appreciates the bounty of the (swatifted) world’s South Portage Bay area; it is rich with natural resources like plant, animal, and water fowl. It’s been a long time since it was so and so we wish to acknowledge and support the Montlake Community Club and The Coalition for a Sustainable SR-520 group in their efforts to protect the same such bounty. We declare that Seattle’s own South Portage Bay area can be counted as one of the cities few remaining gems.

We hereby declare in formal written statement that the Duwamish Tribal Council acknowledges and supports the Mountlake Community Club and The Coalition for a Sustainable SR-520 group for their efforts, on behalf of all of us, to protect this precious land.

Wired: Tech gadgets on new 520 Bridge include water sensors, ‘red phone’ alerts, Vegas lights

Image: WSDOT

Image: WSDOT

Wired.com has posted a review of the high-tech gadgetry on the new 520 floating bridge, shedding light on how crews will monitor safety systems, respond to emergencies and keep people moving across the lake. A maintenance facility at the east end will serve as central command, staffed with 8-10 engineers available at all hours of the day.

Features of the new bridge include:

  • Fire hydrants supplied with water pumped from the lake
  • Roadway sensors alerting crews of sandy or icy conditions
  • A high-efficiency street sweeper to collect debris before entering the storm water system
  • A mid-bridge weather station to track wind storms
  • Concrete cooling tubes embedded in the pontoons to reduce heat and control cracking (oops!), and electrified rebar to reduce corrosion
  • Moisture sensors in each pontoon cell to alert crews of rising water (3″ triggers an alert)
  • Security systems, backup power, computer servers and a ‘red phone‘ that will alert crews with news of trouble
  • “Improved lighting” — including LEDs that will illuminate the sentinel towers at each bridge end with a multi-colored display of Las Vegas style lights.
Image: WSDOT

Image: WSDOT

Construction on the new floating bridge and West Approach Bridge North is expected to wrap up in 2016, providing 6-lanes across Lake Washington including 2 lanes for HOV.

Good and bad in the new West Approach Bridge North

West Approach Bridge North plan. Image: WSDOT

West Approach Bridge North plan. Click for larger view. Image: WSDOT

WSDOT rolled out plans for the new 520 West Approach Bridge North (WABN) tonight in Bellevue ahead of a public open house at St Demetrios Church tomorrow. The bridge will be the first step in replacing SR-520 in Seattle, connecting the new 6-lane floating bridge to Montlake Blvd — scheduled for completion in 2016.

The ‘N’ in WABN means this is only the north half of the new approach. The south half, like the rest of the Seattle side, remains unfunded. WSDOT plans to keep the existing west approach (for eastbound traffic) until the state finds another $1.4 billion for the Portage Bay Bridge, lids and… WABS.

West Approach Bridge. Image: WSDOT

Image: WSDOT

The display boards for the WABN open house are now available online. Here’s a preview…

20130205-192841.jpg

New 520 regional trail included with WABN. Image: WSDOT

The Good:

  • The bridge includes a 14′ wide regional trail across Lake Washington, with belvedere viewing platforms, cable railings to maintain water views, and — a freakin’ path across the lake! 
  • The regional trail will follow the Lake Washington Blvd off-ramp and connect to a new 16′ wide bicycle and pedestrian path on the 24th Ave (ex-MOHAI) overpass.
  • A new path across the Canal Reserve area* will extend the regional trail to Montlake Blvd.
  • The flyer stop will be kept and improved during the WABN phase (its days are numbered though).

The Bad:

  • Vehicles using the new off-ramp will turn across the well-used Lake Washington bike route at 24th Ave. Mixing bikes and pedestrians with stressed out freeway drivers is a bad idea. However, this is still a solvable problem, so long as WSDOT and SDOT adopt the All-Ages-and-Abilities spirit written into the City’s 520 resolution passed yesterday, and come up with something clever.
  • Since we’re getting half the WAB, we’re also getting half of its new 10′ high underbridge area along the east Montlake shoreline — accessible from McCurdy Park to the north but bounded by the existing at-grade freeway to the south. This underbridge area will be a world class camp site.
  • This $300 million WABN phase does little to improve walking, biking and traffic impacts along Montlake Blvd, especially its west side. Weak sauce. On the other hand, traffic volumes are not expected to change much during this WABN phase:
20130205-192923.jpg

Expecting carmageddon? WSDOT’s not. This diagram shows the net change in traffic patterns (in vehicles-per-hour) expected from the WABN plan. Click for a larger view. Image: WSDOT.

West Approach Bridge North Public Open House — Wednesday, February 6th — 4:30-7:30pm — St Demetrios Church

*Confidential to WSDOT: Don’t be jerks — preserve the urban farm and chicken coop that exists here.

Live blogging City Council 520 meeting: Portage Bay bike trail + lid options + WABN

20130204-141216.jpg

“Community requested” bike trail now “city requested.” Image: WSDOT

The City Council is expected to pass a resolution during today’s 520 Committee meeting in response to WSDOT’s Seattle Community Design Process (SCDP). The SCDP outlined the State’s final design for the 520 Replacement through Seattle — and the public’s “overwhelming” desire for better walking and biking access throughout the plans. The City Council’s draft resolution reflects the public comments, and formally requests that WSDOT:

  • Build the Portage Bay Bridge Trail while minimizing width and visual impact.
  • Redesign the Montlake Lid with a “wider range of options” to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections.
  • Improve safety in the underbridge areas.
  • Create an interim “Lake to Land” Plan that doesn’t preclude good options for the Montlake Lid and with adequate mitigation for the neighborhood.

Also on the agenda for today’s meeting is a discussion of the West Approach Bridge North (WABN). WSDOT is holding an open house Wednesday at St Demetrios Church (4:30-7:30pm) to publicly unveil the WABN design, which will connect the new floating bridge to Montlake Blvd with a new 3-lane freeway next to the existing West Approach. The WABS — West Approach Bridge South — is expected to replace the existing West Approach during a later phase, years down the road.

Live Blog:

2:30pm: Here we go. Public comments up first…

2:40: Commenter asks that resolution refine language of “blending Roanoke Lid into hillside.”

2:42: Laurelhurst Community Club asks for a supplemental EIS on north-south traffic routes over 520. Asks for further noise mitigation for Madison Park residents.

2:45: Comments done. Committee chair Richard Conlin describing the resolution now. Describing language added to protect the Queen City Yacht Club during construction, strengthened language regarding bicycle and pedestrian connections — including “all ages and abilities.” Conlin nods to CM Bagshaw for this addition.

2:48: CM O’Brien is proposing amendments now. [...should be interesting since he's been quiet during this process lately.]

… better protections for the Queen City Yacht Club. New language against future phases of design not precluding improvement options in the future.

2:52: CM Rasmussen proposes adopting commenter’s suggestion of strengthened Roanoke Lid “blend into hillside” language. Conlin asks for it to be considered in front of next week’s Full Council vote.

2:53: CM Conlin thanks community members for input during the SCDP and City Council resolution in response. Resolution passes. [Portage Bay Bike Trail and "wider range of options" for the Montlake Lid are now law of the (city)land.]

2:55 Switching now to WABN presentation by WSDOT and City officials…. Conlin questions the “WABN” acronym, implying that it is ridiculous. [It is.]

Here’s the WABN plan:

West Approach Bridge North plan. Image: WSDOT

West Approach Bridge North plan. Click for larger view. Image: WSDOT

3:00 WSDOT: WABN “does not preclude” light rail on 520, nor future options for the Montlake Lid.

3:09 WSDOT: WABN superstructure is “simple and clean.”

3:15 WSDOT: Explaining seismic ‘wiggling’ now…

3:17 WSDOT: New Lake Washington Blvd off-ramp will connect to and use the 24th Ave (ex-MOHAI) overpass. Includes a 16′ wide bike/ped path. [Good news!]

3:18 WSDOT: A new traffic signal will be added to Montlake Blvd northbound off-ramp. Says this will be better for pedestrians. [Huh.] Flyer stop to remain during WABN interim phase.

3:22 CM Bagshaw: What’s been done about “dark and dangerous” areas for pedestrians underneath the freeway? How will students walk to Montlake Elementary School?

WSDOT: “We have more work to do on that.”

3:24 CM Bagshaw: “Would you let your 8-year-old child walk in this area?”

[.... crickets.]

3:32 CM O’Brien asks if Hamlin U-turn is still available to cars exiting at Montlake Blvd northbound. WSDOT: Yes.

3:39 Councilmembers grilling presenters on Hamlin U-turn. WSDOT: Always been a “problem child.” This solution will be temporary…. sort of.

3:45 WSDOT presenting mitigation projects funded with WABN’s $300 million federal loan…

… reconstructed wetlands on the WSDOT Peninsula and Union Bay Natural Area. Arboretum multi-use trail.

3:52 CM Conlin: “I’ll be there at St Demetrios to hear comments.”

3:55 CM O’Brien sticking up for neighborhood mitigation projects, lids, noise walls — asking what’s being done?

WSDOT: Long answer saying not much… funding that is. “Quiet pavement” experiment on 520 in Medina a few years ago was not successful. Other noise absorption strategies will be used (no walls though).

4:00 CM Conlin: When does funding for the next phase need to be secured for work to be seamless?

WSDOT: 2014.

####

That’s it folks. For details on the WABN — to be built starting next year — check out WSDOT’s open house at St Demetrios Wednesday from 4:30-7:30. Check out the new bike lane on the ex-MOHAI ramp and new intersection on Montlake Blvd. Fun times!

WSDOT claims 520 Bridge costs under control amid suit over pontoon repair docs

Image: WSDOT Flickr stream

KOMO 4 News has filed suit against the Washington State Department of Transportation to release documents detailing repair costs for the new 520 Bridge pontoons. The TV station broke news last fall about pontoon leaks that have delayed the project and increased costs. Now they want numbers:

When we asked WSDOT for more recent construction reports, we got page after page after page of reports with blacked out – or redacted – numbers. Now KOMO and the Problem Solvers are suing the state, asking for complete cost reports.

…

Now our insider sources tell us that, in spite of extensive repairs, cracks in the bottom of at least some of those pontoons are getting worse. So now the state is considering a brand-new fix – using steel tendons to tighten the pontoons side to side, called ‘post-tensioning’ – and hopefully seal the persistent cracks. WSDOT Construction Engineer Jeff Carpenter told us, “so if we put the post-tensioning on, that’s an option that we feel very confidant will give us a good solution.”

KOMO suspects, but can’t confirm, that pontoon repair work has so far totaled tens of millions of dollars. Recently, Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond told state legislators, “when there’s a design flaw – we own it.” As repair work is on-going, she declined to talk specifics on added costs. A WSDOT response to the issue released yesterday states:

As we have mentioned since these issues first arose in spring 2012, WSDOT will be working directly with the design-build contractors for the pontoon and floating bridge projects to evaluate responsibility and assignment of costs within the two projects. This will be a complicated negotiation process. As stewards of taxpayer funds, we simply cannot publically assign any costs until negotiations are complete.

Regarding the overall project budget, WSDOT does claim costs are under control:

Through WSDOT’s Cost Estimate Validation Process (CEVP), the SR 520 Program established a risk reserve. The risk reserve, project contingencies, and project savings total $250 million in available reserves for the entire SR 520 program. Of that, approximately $50 million has been spent in executed change orders, which provides approximately $200 million remaining in reserves.

More from KOMO here and WSDOT here.