Northwest 2 January 23, 2017

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PACIFIC NORTHWEST EDITION

A Supplement to:

®

January 22 2017 Vol. I • No. 2

“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Pacific Northwest Connection – Patrick Kiel – 1-877-7CEGLTD – pkiel@cegltd.com

USDOT Tool May Allow $2B for Seattle Projects

Washington State Department of Transportation photo

Pontoons with superstructure are moved to a staging area on the lake so the superstructure can be demolished in place.

Decommissioning of SR 520 Floating Bridge on Schedule By Andrea Watts CEG CORRESPONDENT

Since its opening in 1963, the state Route 520 Bridge provided Seattle and Eastside residents a shortcut across Lake Washington. By the 1990s, its 1950’s design couldn’t accommodate the increased number of vehicles crossing the lake, resulting in lengthy backups during rush hour. Discussion to replace the bridge began in 1997, and after nearly a decade of project designs and permit reviews, work commenced on a new SR 520 Bridge in August 2011. With the new bridge open to traffic in April 2016, decommissioning the old floating bridge is now under way. “The scope of work is removal of all concrete structures from two feet below the mudline to everything that is visible on the lake and to remove it from Lake Washington,” said Cody Bishop, project manager of Kiewit/General/Mason (KGM), the contractor also responsible for constructing the new $1.2 bil-

lion SR 520 floating bridge. Kiewit has experience with this type of construction and demolition, he explained, having demolished the old Port Mann Bridge in British Columbia, and the company also was awarded the contract to demolish the San Francisco Bay Bridge’s foundations. For the SR 520 Bridge, KGM subcontracted the demolition work to NorthStar, although they are providing marine support and assisting with containment of the materials. Across the three work sites, KGM has a craft work force of 30 to 40, while NorthStar has 20 personnel; in addition there are WSDOT personnel and two quality assurance personnel looking after the decommissioning work on site. The bridge consists of three distinct sections which require specific decommissioning activities: the floating section which is comprised of 31 pontoons and their anchor cables; the transition spans between the landside and the floating bridge; and the approaches to the transition spans. see BRIDGE page 8

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced that four transit projects in the Seattle area could receive up to nearly $2 billion in financing through an innovative infrastructure financing tool created by the Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau. The Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit) and the Build America Bureau (Bureau) signed a Master Credit Agreement (MCA) — a first-of-its-kind arrangement in which the local transit authority will be able to expedite multiple loan requests under a single agreement with the federal government. The first of those loans is $615.3 million for the Northgate Link Extension. “This announcement demonstrates that the Build America Bureau is already playing a major role in how projects are planned and paid for by streamlining the financing process and bringing together valuable tools for accessing federal dollars. This means projects like the Northgate Link Extension Project can move forward more quickly and effectively,” said Foxx. “We are proud of the work done through the Bureau to speed investments needed in growing regions like the Pacific Northwest. This development is a big win for the entire region.” Foxx launched the Bureau earlier this year to provide a one-stop-shop for state and municipal governments to find innovative solutions to funding critical infrastructure projects. An MCA is one tool that the Bureau offers to help project sponsors streamline the process of applying for federal transportation infrastructure loans through the federal government’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) and the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing (RRIF) programs. The MCA signed by Sound Transit covers four separate projects approved by voters as part of the transit authority’s ST-2 program. The $615.3 million TIFIA loan for the first project, the Northgate Link Extension, was approved and will move forward. The MCA will dramatically streamline the application process for the next three projects, enabling Sound Transit to more easily apply for the loans for the Operations & Maintenance Satellite Facility: East; Lynnwood Extension; and Federal Way Link Extension projects. “With the use of a Master Credit Agreement, the Build America Bureau can now negotiate one deal with entities that have multiple projects in their pipeline to gain access to federal loans,” said Andrew Right, acting executive director of the Build America Bureau. “This has tremendous potential to save time and resources for infrastructure developers and increases transparency for the many partners involved in making transportation safer, faster, and easier in the area.” Since its inception, the Bureau has closed $4 billion in financings and supports more than $7.8 billion in rail, highway and transit projects across the country. The Bureau has 16 projects in creditworthiness review for a total potential loan amount of over $5.5 billion. The Bureau also manages the private activity bond program, the Outreach and Project Development functions of the Build America Transportation Investment Center, and the Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) grant program. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)


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