Seattle metro’s first highcapacity east-west transit
RESHAPING A REGION
New highway transforms travel, addresses growing needs
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FEATURING
04
Connecting California
California High-Speed Rail the largest infrastructure program underway in the U.S. will accelerate connectivity between the state’s mega-regions
38
Transformative Pathway
New pedestrian bridge connects Microsoft campuses and creates appealing community space
14
Setting a New Standard
Clemson University demonstrates a staunch commitment to the future of women’s sports
26
Extending East
Seattle metro’s first highcapacity, east-west transit project fulfills a decades-old transportation need
48
Reshaping a Region
New West Davis Highway transforms travel and addresses growing population and transportation needs
56
Rebuilt to Last
A crucial link in the nation’s rail system is ready for another century of use
CONNECTING CALIFORNIA
California High-Speed Rail – the largest infrastructure program underway in the U.S. – will accelerate connectivity between the state’s mega-regions and serve as a testament to the power of high-speed systems
Construction Package 4 SAN
CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL (CAHSR), the nation’s first high-speed rail project and largest in-process infrastructure program, will zip passengers along a nearly 500-mile route between San Francisco and Los Angeles at speeds up to 220 miles per hour. Electrified trains will cover the distance in fewer than three hours, cutting in half the six-plus hours it now takes to drive between the two cities.
The system’s backbone is the 119-mile initial operating section now under construction. Among the section’s three design-build construction packages is Construction Package 4 (CP4), a 22-mile segment that is critical to the line’s overall success. CP4 provides crucial rail guideway infrastructure that prepares for the program’s next steps: track and systems installation. Partnering with the project owner, California High-Speed Rail Authority, HNTB serves as construction manager.
“We achieved a construction first for high-speed rail in California with the completion of Construction Package 4. The HNTB team was instrumental in working with the Authority to achieve this milestone,” said Daniel Teran, senior contract manager, California High-Speed Rail Authority.
LOS ANGELES
“We haven’t yet seen the effect high-speed rail can have on our lives. California High-Speed Rail is the proving ground for high-speed rail projects throughout the country. Once the system is operating and people begin to experience the convenience and understand the impact it has on their families, their work and their communities, the demand will escalate everywhere.”
— ALBERTO KING HNTB PROJECT EXECUTIVE
“High-speed rail’s sweet spot is where it’s competitive with air, particularly where high-speed rail can operate from center city to center city. There’s a much higher reliability, weather issues are not as significant and the ability to expand capacity is easier because you can either add more trains or add more cars onto a train.”
PETER GERTLER
HNTB
HIGH-SPEED RAIL STRATEGIC ADVISOR
Transformational infrastructure
CAHSR represents a transformational and generational shift that will deliver considerable regional and statewide benefits, resolving congestion in communities, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing quality of life.
While the California High-Speed Rail Authority is working to secure funding for delivery of the entire CAHSR system, the project already has received state and federal funding for the work underway, and the Federal Railroad Administration announced in December 2023 that it would award $3 billion more for continuation of CAHSR design and construction.
The project also enjoys public support. A 2022 University of California Berkeley / Los Angeles Times survey found that the majority of California’s registered voters favored continuing the CAHSR project.
“There has been a perception that high-speed rail couldn’t be built in the United States,” said Alberto King, HNTB project executive. “But, through CAHSR, we are solving the issues that have previously stood in the way. HNTB is working collaboratively with the California High-Speed Rail Authority to address every challenge we encounter. We have not hesitated to bring the best available rail staff in the country to advise the Authority about the most effective ways to deliver the project.”
“HNTB is deeply passionate about the mission of high-speed rail in California,” said Brian Stover, HNTB project manager. “Bringing high-speed rail to the United States offers new options for accessible mobility, allowing people to travel between cities comfortably, reliably and safely. We’re taking what has been done in other parts of the world and making it better.”
Path through the Central Valley
The CAHSR line will traverse California’s Central Valley, the largest agricultural center in the country and home to nearly 7 million people.
“Although some communities in the Central Valley are the fastest growing in California, the region’s economy has lagged behind the rest of the state. Its communities have experienced historic underinvestment and have been geographically separated from the coastal cities,” King said. “By choosing to take high-speed rail through the Central Valley, the California High-Speed Rail Authority will not only deliver economic benefits to the communities along the route but will connect them to the rest of the state.”
The CAHSR line will make it easier for Central Valley residents to access the area’s more affordable housing and still commute to work in Los Angeles, the Bay Area or other job centers.
To ensure they weren’t contributing to the Central Valley Basin’s clean-air challenges, the Authority set a project goal of net-zero greenhouse gas and criteria pollutant emissions. During construction, all contractors must use trucks and equipment retrofitted to achieve comparable standards throughout the project. High-speed rail itself will monumentally reduce carbon emissions in the area by removing a significant number of cars and trucks from CentralValleyroadways.
A substantially complete milestone
The CP4 project section, the southernmost construction package along the alignment, lies in the Central Valley within Tulare and Kern Counties. CP4 includes relocating and repurposing four miles of existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) tracks and construction of at-grade, retained fill and aerial sections of the high-speed rail alignment, including three viaducts over existing roadways and railroad tracks.
The segment includes the city of Wasco, where two key CAHSR structures were built:
• Wasco Viaduct: The nearly mile-long Wasco Viaduct will lift high-speed trains up and over the existing BNSF freight tracks. To avoid disruptions to the BNSF line, the project team chose a pergola structure with 120 precast concrete girders built over the tracks. Most of the precast elements were constructed on one side of the alignment, minimizing the impacts to BNSF operations and requiring only brief closures to set the girders. The structure above the pergola section will support a double high-speed slab track and allow a service speed of more than 200 miles per hour.
• Pedestrian Underpass: Located in the center of Wasco, the pedestrian underpass was built to allow Wasco residents to safely access an existing Amtrak platform located on the east side of the high-speed rail alignment. The signature structure, by which Amtrak patrons can cross under the high-speed rail line to access the passenger platform on the other side, has stairwells and wheelchair ramps built on both sides for accessibility.
Although CP4 was the last of the three construction packages to begin, it was the first to reach substantial completion. That milestone, achieved in early 2024, sets the stage for track, catenary and electrical work to begin.
“HNTB’s rigorous risk management methodology brought predictability to CP4. We categorized every risk, from environmental permits to stakeholder engagement and utility relocations, and assigned a certain duration to each one. We therefore could measure and nail down the project schedule and budget, resolve issues week after week and advance faster.”
ALBERTO KING HNTB PROJECT EXECUTIVE
LEADING CP4 DELIVERY
HNTB partnered with the California High-Speed Rail Authority as prime consultant and project construction manager on the CP4 design-build project. The firm’s responsibilities included contract management; oversight of project controls, engineering, construction and environmental compliance; utility and third-party oversight and coordination, right-of-way coordination and validation and verification services.
In addition, HNTB provided oversight of final design and construction services for all elements of the segment, including:
More than 22 miles of guideway
11 structures
6 miles of intrusion protection barrier wall
143 utility relocations
62 Pacific Gas & Electric design packages
223 right-of-way parcels
88 land rights conveyance
To ensure successful delivery of all designs, HNTB’s internationally recognized high-speed rail experts conducted a rigorous, independent verification and validation utilizing a process that has been successfully applied on high-speed rail construction in both Asia and Europe.
“HNTB’s rigorous risk management methodology brought predictability to CP4,” King said. “We categorized every risk, from environmental permits to stakeholder engagement and utility relocations, and assigned a certain duration to each one. We, therefore, could measure and nail down the project schedule and budget, resolve issues week after week and advance faster.”
A cohesive team, comprised of Authority, HNTB and contractor staff, enabled unified decision-making.
“We also worked closely with a number of the third parties, including City of Wasco leaders, with whom we held weekly meetings,” Stover said. “CP4 is an extremely complex project. Because a project like this has never been done in the United States, there were significant hurdles to overcome. HNTB created both systems and working relationships that enabled the whole team to collaborate and solve those issues together. That has been paramount to success.”
From its work on CP4, HNTB developed a lessonslearned log and met with designers from two additional CAHSR sections that are under design. The group reviewed issues that were encountered during CP4 construction that could be addressed and resolved in the design of future segments.
“HNTB is deeply passionate about the mission of highspeed rail in California. Bringing high-speed rail to the United States offers new options for accessible mobility, allowing people to travel between cities comfortably, reliably and safely. We’re taking what has been done in other parts of the world and making it better.”
BRIAN STOVER HNTB PROJECT MANAGER
Inspiring the future of high-speed rail
As a fast, reliable and eco-friendly connection between California’s two biggest economic and population centers, CAHSR has the potential to be a powerhouse transportation alternative. The project is envisioned to eventually extend to Sacramento and San Diego, totaling 800 miles with as many as 24 stations.
“High-speed rail’s sweet spot is where it’s competitive with air, particularly where high-speed rail can operate from center city to center city,” said Peter Gertler, HNTB high-speed rail strategic advisor. “There’s a much higher reliability, weather issues are not as significant and the ability to expand capacity is easier because you can either add more trains or add more cars onto a train.”
“We haven’t yet seen the effect high-speed rail can have on our lives,” King said. “California High-Speed Rail is the proving ground for high-speed rail projects throughout the country. Once the system is operating and people begin to experience the convenience and understand the impact it has on their families, their work and their communities, the demand will escalate everywhere.” n
CONTACTS
ALBERTO KING, HNTB Project Executive (213) 337-2115 n alking@hntb.com
BRIAN STOVER, HNTB Project Manager (704) 577-0786 n bstover@hntb.com
SETTING A NEW STANDARD
Clemson University’s world-class gymnastics and lacrosse complex planned, designed and built in just 22 months demonstrates a staunch commitment to the future of women’s sports
WHEN CLEMSON UNIVERSITY’S FEMALE STUDENT POPULATION
increased to a majority of the student body, the university introduced two new women’s sports programs gymnastics and lacrosse to demonstrate its unwavering commitment to equity in sports and remain compliant with Title IX.
Within 18 months of that announcement, Clemson had planned, designed and broken ground on a world-class Women’s Sports Complex that proved its desire to provide unprecedented, female athlete-centric facilities.
“When Clemson Athletics commits to facilities, best is the standard,” said Clemson Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Eric Sabin.
“The new Women’s Sports Complex reflects our dedication to lacrosse and gymnastics and to women’s sports overall. Our strategy was to design the best in the country for those student-athletes.”
HNTB and South Carolina-based architectural firm Garvin Design Group were retained to complete gymnastics and lacrosse facility feasibility studies. Clemson wanted to ensure that both installations would fit within the athletic district, an area on the west side of campus that is home to all Tiger athletic facilities.
After reviewing multiple possible locations for the buildings, the Athletic Department chose a site overlooking Lake Hartwell, adjacent to the women’s rowing building. Project leaders established a scope that included not only lacrosse and gymnastics facilities, but also a rowing center renovation and a new 10,000-square-foot elite athlete training and recovery center.
“As a team, HNTB and Garvin collaborated to make the best use of the site and put a modern twist on the new facilities, allowing us to push the envelope farther than we have before,” Sabin said.
Clemson held a groundbreaking ceremony in December 2022. By January 2024, the women’s lacrosse, gymnastics and rowing programs cut the ribbons on their new and updated, state-ofthe-art facilities, setting a new U.S. standard for women’s sports and an industry precedent for how fast visionary architecture can be designed anddelivered.
“When Clemson Athletics commits to facilities, best is the standard. The new Women’s Sports Complex reflects our dedication to lacrosse and gymnastics and to women’s sports overall. Our strategy was to design the best in the country for those student-athletes.”
ERIC SABIN CLEMSON EXECUTIVE SENIOR ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
“We were thrilled to work with Clemson and such a dynamic group of people on this groundbreaking project for athletics,” said Terry Buchmann, Garvin Design Group principal and project manager. “And we were excited to continue our design partnership with HNTB and promoting women’s sports at Clemson and delivering world-class facilities for each of these programs.”
Fast-track design and construction
Designing and building the new spaces demanded a fast-track timeline. The HNTB-Garvin project partnership allowed the two firms to complete plans for three new buildings, the rowing center renovation and the lacrosse stadium in just nine months.
To accelerate construction, the design team leveraged the speed and efficiency of pre-engineered metal buildings. The prefabrication engineer shared standard baseline design details, and the team adjusted those details to align with design goals.
The structures were customized with high-end exterior and interior finishes light wood tones, added windows and energy-efficient systems resulting in a first-class, aesthetically pleasing complex. Each building has its own distinct space, personality, scale and interior detailing, giving athletes in each sport an individual sense of identity while maintaining commonalities with other Clemson buildings to unify the new sports complex to the rest of the campus.
Clemson’s Athletics Department also worked closely with Lake Hartwell’s owner, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Clemson community to ensure the public would continue to have access to heavily used pedestrian nature trails on the forested land where the Women’s Sports Complex was built.
“We embraced the environment around the complex,” Sabin said. “We fit the project within the confines of the trails to maintain them in their original setting, making sure the facilities matched by using naturalistic tones and environmentally friendly approaches.”
The Women’s Sports Complex brought added improvements like new sidewalks, lighting and security cameras in parking lots that also increase safety for people who utilize the lakefront.
Athlete-centric design
“In every endeavor, Clemson holds themselves to a standard of excellence,” said HNTB Design Principal Eric Maxwell. “When they start a team, their posture is to invest and position the athletes to immediately be competitive and win.”
The 21,000-square-foot gymnastics operations and training facility boasts a lobby, practice gym, offices, locker room, lounge and training room. Knowing natural light improves learning and well-being, the project team incorporated creative design elements, such as an east-facing glass wall in the gymnastics facility. A large expanse of polycarbonate panels on the south and southwest sides allow sunlight to filter through a line of trees outside, bathing the interior in an ultrasoft light that helps enhance performance.
The gymnastics coaches wanted the exercise floor to be the centerpiece of the training space. Designers brought that vision to life by creating a light-filled lobby that provides spectators and visiting summer camp families with unobstructed views of the exercise floor.
To accommodate practices, when gymnasts require a mirrored wall, the design team created a sliding partition of mirrored panels that expands for practices and contracts for compact storage. The training space also features hydraulic lifts that allow for effortless adjustment to the landing pad height, enhancing the flexibility of practice techniques for the gymnasts.
“The gymnastics facility is a great example of the HNTB/Garvin display of teamwork and commitment to the project,” Sabin said. “Garvin echoed the Athletic Department’s desire for a lot of natural light, and HNTB’s experience using polycarbonate panels and other substrates allowed that light to be diffused so it did not interrupttraininginthefacility.
INNOVATIONS DELIVER CLEMSON’S VISION
• First U.S. collegiate sports complex dedicated to women athletes. The complex reflects Clemson’s unwavering commitment to women’s sports.
• First sports recovery center on a U.S. campus. Acknowledging the need to serve the whole individual, the sports recovery center addresses each student-athlete’s need for mental as well as physical well-being.
• An innovative approach to gymnastics exercise floors. The coaches wanted the exercise floor to be the centerpiece of the training space. To accommodate practices, when gymnasts require a mirrored wall, the design team created a sliding partition of mirrored panels that expands for practices and contracts for compact storage, allowing the floor to be the facility’s focal point.
• Application of technology. The Athlete Recovery Center is home to the latest recovery equipment such as TheraLight beds, sleep pods, massage chairs and a cryotherapy unit. The gymnastics training space features hydraulic lifts that allow for effortless adjustment to the landing pad heights, enhancing the flexibility of practice techniques for the gymnasts.
• Use of light to enhance learning. Knowing natural light improves learning and well-being, the project team incorporated creative design elements, such as an east-facing glass wall in the gymnastics facility. A large expanse of polycarbonate panels on the south and southwest sides allow sunlight to filter through a line of trees
A 21,000-square-foot gymnastics operations and training facility with a lobby, practice gym, offices, locker room, lounge and training room.
First-of-its-kind, 10,000-squarefoot athlete recovery center, housing a large yoga space, dry and wet float tanks, cryogenic chambers and offices for coaches, doctors and sports psychologists.
A 9,000-square-foot lacrosse operations facility with coaches’ offices, locker rooms, a players’ lounge, a nutrition center, a team meeting room and an athletic training room.
A lacrosse stadium complete with bleachers and artificial turf.
An upgraded rowing facility with a new sports medicine area featuring taping tables, hydrotherapy and administration offices.
“Together, they created the most beautiful aspect of the Women’s Sports Complex. Driving up the hill toward the complex, people see the wall face of polycarbonate panels with the largest Clemson paw graphic we’ve ever placed on a facility. Inside is the perfect shadowed outline of that paw through the polycarbonate, with all this natural light coming in. It’s very well designed.”
The 9,000-square-foot lacrosse operations building encompasses coaches’ offices, locker rooms, a player lounge, nutrition center, team meeting room and athletic training room. Completing the lacrosse complex is a 1,000-seat stadium with artificial turf, a video LED scoreboard and a “hype tunnel,” through which players can explode onto the field at the start of a game.
“Our facility is more than we could have ever dreamed of,” said Allison Evans Kwolek, Clemson lacrosse coach. “Everything about it has been better than expected. For a young program to have a world-class facility like this is a game changer for recruiting top student athletes. The design team was genuine in wanting to know our thoughts and put an incredible effort into transforming our ideas into a meaningful and beautiful design.”
In February 2024, just one month after the ribbon cutting, the stadium hosted the team’s season opener, which the Tigers won decisively. Clemson is the only school in the country with a performance and stadium facility solely dedicated to women’s lacrosse.
The rowing facility was upgraded with a new sports medicine area that features taping tables, hydrotherapy and administration offices.
The jewel of the new Women’s Sports Complex is the first-of-its-kind, 10,000-square-foot Athlete Recovery Center, a retreat for all Clemson studentathletes to engage in mental and physical wellness practices in an environment that emphasizes recovery and community.
“Athlete performance centers usually have the lion’s share of square footage dedicated to cardio and strength training, with recovery off to the side,” Maxwell said.
“The idea behind Clemson’s Athlete Recovery Center is that it’s a place to come take a breath, to retreat from the mental and physical rigors of their day-to-day lives, where they’re always trying to get faster, stronger and smarter, and take time to relax and truly recover.”
Acknowledging the need to serve the whole individual, the project team incorporated a large yoga space and the latest recovery equipment, including dry and wet float tanks, TheraLight beds, sleep pods, massage chairs and cryogenic chambers. Coaches, doctors and sports psychologists have offices on site, and the building is positioned to take advantage of the view to Lake Hartwell. The recovery center also plays host to programs that focus on furthering Clemson studentathletes’holisticdevelopment.
“‘Athlete first’ doesn’t just mean sports competition. Clemson and the design team focused on creating spaces that make well-rounded student athletes. The Women’s Sports Complex contributes to the mission of collegiate athletics and the mission of the university’s athletics program that all athletes, regardless of gender or pedigree or demographic, are prepared as they matriculate from school to take advantage of their athletic experience and be competitive in the workforce and their communities.”
TODD BALLEW HNTB PRINCIPAL IN CHARGE
“‘Athlete first’ doesn’t just mean sports competition,” said HNTB Principal in Charge Todd Ballew. “Clemson and the design team focused on creating spaces that make well-rounded student athletes. The Women’s Sports Complex contributes to the mission of collegiate athletics and the mission of the university’s athletics program that all athletes, regardless of gender or pedigree or demographic, are prepared as they matriculate from school to take advantage of their athletic experience and be competitive in the workforce and their communities.”
The Women’s Sports Complex serves as a standout recruiting tool, helping Clemson sign some of tomorrow’s most promising collegiate women athletes. Three of the nation’s top female lacrosse players, for example, committed to join the Tigers as part of the Class of 2025.
“As the complex was being designed and built, Clemson was asking student athletes to commit to them on faith,” Ballew said. “Clemson made good on every promise.”
A model for women’s sports
Women now make up about 60% of U.S. college students. Consequently, athletic departments across the country face the challenge of providing new facilities for female athletes and building them quickly.
Clemson’s history-making Women’s Sports Complex provides an efficient, cost-effective template for other colleges and universities to follow.
“Being a female designer on this project felt particularly poignant as we envisioned the future for two inaugural women’s sports teams,” said Liza Brockman, Garvin Design Group, interior designer. “Working with the lacrosse, gymnastics and rowing teams inspired us to push the envelope of design.”
From its picturesque lakeside setting and campus feel to its state-of-the-art architecture and amenities, Clemson University’s Women’s Sports Complex has exceeded the university’s and the athletes’ expectations, setting a new standard in collegiate women’s sports.
“There’s not a lot we would have done differently, but there are a lot of lessons we learned from building these facilities about what works well,” Sabin said. “Our strategic vision was to support our student-athletes and coaches with the best facilities in the country, and we’re happy to share our knowledge with every other school that has a similar commitment to women’s sports.” n
CONTACT
TODD BALLEW, HNTB Principal in Charge (404) 273-0004 n tballew@hntb.com
EXTENDING EAST
Sound Transit’s first high-capacity east-west transit project fulfills a decades-old transportation need for the region’s eastside residents and businesses
TWO-MILE-WIDE LAKE WASHINGTON
separates Seattle on the west from two of its largest eastside population and employment centers, Bellevue and Redmond. These eastern suburbs, respectively, are the site of an Amazon expansion project and home to Microsoft’s 60,000-employee global headquarters, among other major employers.
Existing roadways that connect the eastside cities with downtown Seattle are frequently congested. The bridges that traverse Lake Washington offer bus connectivity, but Sound Transit, Seattle’s public transit agency, projected that neither buses nor personal vehicles would sufficiently serve the long-term mobility needs of the city’s fast-growing eastside.
“Technology employment through this corridor is huge,” said Catherine Hovell, HNTB closeout manager. “With it comes the need to move people and connect them to the opportunities, housing and lifestyles they desire within that same economic space.”
In the early 2000s, Sound Transit began planning a regional light rail expansion including projects to serve the cities along the lake’s eastern shores. The 14-mile East Link Extension project, which adds a new light rail line from Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond, was approved by voters in November 2008. It is the region’s first high-capacity east-west transit project.
«Continuation of 2Line to Seattle
“This project fulfills an east-west transportation need that has existed for decades. It significantly enhances mobility by connecting the regional power centers of Bellevue and Redmond and their jobs with cultural institutions, entertainment options and work on the west side of Seattle. It’s quite transformative for the communities it serves.”
KEVIN COLLINS
HNTB PROJECT MANAGER, DESIGN PHASE
HNTB’S ROLE
HNTB led the initiative’s final design joint-venture team for the Bellevue to Redmond portion. The firm’s services included developing construction packages for the South Bellevue, Downtown Bellevue to Spring District, Downtown Bellevue Tunnel and Bel-Red portions of the line; developing designbuild requirements for the Redmond portion; and providing design support during construction.
HNTB led a joint venture team, H-J-H Final Designer Partners, in designing the 7.2-mile Bellevue-to-Redmond portion of the electric light rail line. In April 2024, the initial 6.6-mile segment of the Link 2 Line opened, including eight stations. Initial counts show ridership around 6,000 riders each day, with service every 10 minutes, 16 hours a day, seven days a week. Ridership is expected to grow exponentially when the remainder of East Link, which will deliver riders across Lake Washington from Bellevue to downtown Seattle, opens in late 2025.
“This project fulfills an east-west transportation need that has existed for decades,” said Kevin Collins, HNTB project manager during design phase. “It significantly enhances mobility by connecting the regional power centers of Bellevue and Redmond and their jobs with cultural institutions, entertainment options and work on the west side of Seattle. It’s quite transformative for the communities it serves.”
“This light rail line is going to change lives. It will connect people to education, jobs, recreation and each other, helping expand access to opportunity across our region. We wouldn’t be here without our incredible partners, like HNTB. Their expertise and dedication have been integral to making the vision of light rail on the Eastside a reality. For me, this is the culmination of years and years of work by many people and a realization of the promise we made to voters in 2008. For the Eastside, it’s the beginning of an incredible transformation that will benefit the community for decades to come.”
VALUE ENGINEERING
HNTB also worked alongside Sound Transit, the City of Bellevue and other stakeholders early on in the project to provide value engineering services. As part of these efforts, the HNTB-led final design team conducted several design optimization studies that, ultimately, have led to significant reductions of costs for Sound Transit.
Facilitating a first-time light rail project Development of the East Link line included input from numerous stakeholders, including Bellevue and Redmond city leaders and residential groups. Because East Link represented the first implementation of a light rail system in those cities, station and rail line building standards didn’t exist.
Sound Transit and the project team collaborated extensively with city leaders through weekly meetings, sharing successful processes and outcomes in other cities as codes were being developed. City building and permitting personnel co-located in the project team’s office to facilitate and expedite the design approval process.
Intermodal connectivity was a key project goal. Coordinating with King County, where Seattle is located, the project team designed the Wilburton Station in Bellevue with a connection to the regional bicycle trail system the county is building.
“Considering the number of people who now commute by bicycle between Bellevue and Seattle, someone who doesn’t live close to a station could use the county’s regional bike trail system to reach the East Link system without having to drive,” said John Schlick, HNTB project manager during construction phase.
Secure bicycle parking is available at every station. Bikes are allowed on board 2 Line trains as well.
Working with its transit partners, Sound Transit redesigned the regional bus network to complement the new light rail system, removing overlapping routes and redeploying buses to serve expanded areas of the region. Three of the East Link starter line stations are incorporated into the regional bus system, allowing riders to easily transfer between express buses and light rail trains. All other stations are near bus stops, and three stations have adjacent park-and-ride facilities.
These studies included:
• Structural Optimization Study that simplified the aerial guideway, eliminated several large straddle bents through alignment refinements, and eliminated a long-span bridge crossing Bellevue Way SE.
• Tunnel Method Study that identified the sequential excavation method of tunnel construction as the most cost-effective for the downtown Bellevue tunnel.
Tunneling solution
In response to Bellevue’s preference during the planning phase of the project, Sound Transit changed the light rail system’s alignment through the city’s downtown area from street level to a tunnel configuration that connects the East Main and Bellevue Downtown stations. H-J-H explored alternative tunneling methods that would reduce construction impacts.
The sequential excavation method (SEM) employed to build the approximately 2,000-foot-long tunnel allowed almost all work to be done underground. After dividing the tunnel into segments, construction crews used excavating equipment to remove small amounts of soil, one segment at a time. As each segment was removed, crews sprayed the tunnel’s sides, ceiling and floor with pressurized concrete, called shotcrete, and installed steel lattice girders for additional support.
Although the tunnel’s addition had the potential to elevate East Link project costs, SEM delivered affordability by minimizing utility relocations and business disruptions, reducing the need to reroute traffic through downtown Bellevue while construction took place. The tunnel was completed under budget and five months ahead of schedule.
HNTB’s expertise addressed complex design requirements at the Bellevue Station, where the platform is perched on the tunnel’s edge.
“There’s steep topography coming out of the tunnel, and the station immediately goes from underground to elevated,” Collins said. “The design includes pedestrian connectivity, accommodates a driveway into Bellevue’s City Hall and efficiently uses elevators and escalators. Finding the right solutions demanded both engineering andarchitecturaldesignexpertise.”
Empowering transit-oriented development
Sound Transit’s transportation investment has unlocked economic development opportunities throughout the 2 Line corridor where residents and area visitors have access to improved regional connectivity. The HNTB-led design team worked with developers to enable transitoriented development (TOD) near the new East Link line. The Spring District Station, located in the middle of a TOD area, presented a particular challenge.
The station is located below grade in a trench. In the original plan, horizontal underground tiebacks were specified as the most economical way to anchor the trench walls. The tiebacks, however, would have inhibited developers’ ability to construct building foundations.
To maximize the developable land around the Spring District Station, H-J-H designed an innovative and cost-effective concept that braced the trench on the inside using beams that cross the top and support the walls. That solution removed developers’ construction constraints and allowed them to develop right up to the trench’s property line.
Among the other TOD projects the starter line has spurred are 25,000 new Bellevue housing units that are either already built, under construction or in the permitting process. Light rail is a central element of the city’s overall growth strategy, which is expected to add 150,000 more homes and 185,000 more jobs over the next two decades.
Connecting the region
When the East Link project is finished, it will connect more than 200,000 existing jobs in downtown Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond. By 2030, it is expected to serve about 50,000 daily riders on one of the Pacific Northwest’s most-congested travel corridors.
The 2 Line will cross Lake Washington via the Interstate 90 bridge, doubling the bridge’s capacity, reducing average travel time by 25 minutes per trip, eliminating 230,000 vehicle miles traveled per day and substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The expected travel time savings alone are expected to be $65 million annually.
The 2 Line will have a transfer point at the International District/Chinatown Station in downtown Seattle, where travelers will be able to access the 1 Line that runs from downtown south to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and north to Lynnwood.
“This light rail line is going to change lives,” said King County Councilmember and Sound Transit System Expansion Committee Chair Claudia Balducci. “It will connect people to education, jobs, recreation and each other, helping expand access to opportunity across our region. We wouldn’t be here without our incredible partners like HNTB. Their expertise and dedication have been integral to making the vision of light rail on the eastside a reality. For me, this is the culmination of years and years of work by many people and a realization of the promise we made to voters in 2008. For the eastside, it’s the beginning of an incredible transformation that will benefit the community for decades to come.” n
CONTACT
AMY SCARTON, HNTB Client Service Leader (425) 450-2520 n ascarton@hntb.com
P A T H W A Y
A stunning new pedestrian bridge connects Microsoft’s two campuses, expands commuting options and creates an appealing public space for an entire community
THE NEW REDMOND TECHNOLOGY STATION (RTS) PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE TRANSFORMS mobility, safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists in Redmond, Washington’s Overlake community. Spanning 20 roadway lanes and two light rail tracks, it provides an attractive, safe passage for walkers and bikers to cross east and west instead of traversing on sidewalks through multiple intersection crossings and a freeway interchange.
The bridge’s opening in April 2024 coincided with the start of service on Sound Transit’s 2 Line at the Redmond Technology Station, which was built as part of the transportation agency’s East Link Extension project. The RTS Pedestrian Bridge provides direct access to Sound Transit’s new light rail station from either side of State Route 520, connecting roads and giving cyclists a new dedicated connection between local and regional bike trails as well as linking the east and west halves of Microsoft’s 500-acre campus.
Sound Transit’s early conceptual plans for the Redmond Technology station included a pedestrian bridge across SR 520 to allow for easy access to the station from both sides of the highway, but still left the station somewhat isolated between the highway and busy local roads. At the same time, Microsoft was planning a campus modernization project that would be enhanced by a connection to the existing campus on theoppositesideofthehighway.
company took the lead on design and construction of the bridge that would span the highway and local roads to connect its East and West Campus, the transit station and the local bike trail network.
The new bridge provides Microsoft employees and visitors with a new, more relaxed way to travel back and forth, reducing reliance on the company’s fleet of buses, vans and cars that ferry employees between campuses. It also increases ridership on Sound Transit’s new light rail line and the local bus lines that now have a depot adjacent to the light rail station.
Although Microsoft has employees and regular consultants that manage their vertical construction projects, the company selected HNTB as its RTS Pedestrian Bridge construction manager for its experience in bridge building and the design-build contract model used on the project. HNTB served as the liaison between Microsoft, the general contractor and the design team, managed the project schedule and verified construction quality.
“The pedestrian bridge solution has made a major difference in how people are planning their days, where they are meeting and how they are connecting.”
— VANESSA RYAN MICROSOFT SENIOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
a pedestrian bridge are different because people are experiencing the bridge up close,” said Adam Tuff, HNTB resident engineer. “The concrete work and other finishes are extremely high level on this project, consistent with Microsoft’s goals.”
Employee-centric design benefits the community
The 1,100-foot-long RTS Pedestrian Bridge is covered by one-of-a-kind interconnecting, white tensile fabric canopies providing a safe and accessible path that protect users from weather elements. The span also connects users directly to a bus rapid transit stop, a regional bike trail, restaurants and retail spaces on either side of the bridge. A ramp provides direct access to the bridge for passengers leaving the light rail station platform.
As the result of meticulous and innovative planning, the bridge is designed as much more than a utilitarian structure. Wide, separate walking and two-way bike paths invite users to slow down and enjoy traversing the structure. Up to 60 feet across at its widest sections, the span is dotted with precast benches where people can sit to talk and take in the view of the Cascade Mountain range in the distance. Lighting and landscaped planters filled with native plants line the bridge’s length on both sides.
“The RTS Pedestrian bridge shows that infrastructure doesn’t just have to be functional,” said Mark Holmes, HNTB Northwest Division construction services group director. “The bridge provides a fast, easy connection to walk or bike, but people are also using it because it’s beautiful. Since it has opened, people are on the bridge takingphotos,saunteringalongandtaking it in.”
“Our guiding principles for the design were to make it a secure, sustainable and accessible pathway,” said Vanessa Ryan, Microsoft senior development manager. “Part of that accessibility is inclusivity.
At Microsoft, we think a lot about the different needs our employees have, which include how they might traverse a bridge over traffic. We care about the employee experience. So, the wheelchair cutouts and the benches were important, and the natural plantings were designed to reduce stimulation from the traffic below.”
While the bridge design was employee experiencedriven, Ryan explains that the benefits also extend to the surrounding community.
“Consideration of our employees drove the beauty of the design and contributed to a whole ecosystem on the bridge,” she said. “The space attracts butterflies and birds. It’s delightful, like something from a Disney scene. Every person on the bridge is smiling. As much as we tried to mitigate the traffic noise, there are spots where it can be loud, yet crossing the bridge is still one of the loveliest experiences people will have in the area. This bridge exemplifies how Microsoft shows up not just for its employees, but for the community as well.”
Connecting stakeholders
Although Microsoft owned the project’s construction, the bridge connections intersected with Sound Transit, City of Redmond and Washington Department of Transportation rights of way. Those entities had control over project aspects like placement of storm drainage, location of barriers that protect the bridge piers and traffic management.
“HNTB communicated daily with these key stakeholders to coordinate work activities and gain approvals,” said Shannon McNutt, HNTB construction manager. “In our construction management role, we reviewed every submittal, every request for information, every traffic control plan. We always considered how the project’s key stakeholders would be affected, ensured they had relevant input and returned information to the contractor and designer in a timely manner.”
Construction began in 2019. In the midst of the heaviest construction period, the COVID-19 pandemic escalated material availability challenges and a concrete truck driver strike went on for nearly five months. HNTB worked closely with the contractor to mitigate those issues and maintain progress.
“Every HNTB team member was phenomenal, bringing the highest level of construction management skill. There were complex challenges, not just from an engineering standpoint, but also with sometimes-competing stakeholder goals. HNTB was always safety-minded, ethically above board and oriented toward reasonable solutions. The team stewarded the building of this bridge masterfully, keeping it moving and ensuring quality construction. Microsoft couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”
VANESSA RYAN
MICROSOFT SENIOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
After the bridge opened, its ownership transferred to the City of Redmond, with Microsoft assisting in some of the bridge’songoingmaintenancecosts.
Linking the west landing
Constrained by existing Microsoft buildings and placed above an underground parking structure, the pedestrian bridge’s west landing was an intricate undertaking in itself. HNTB supported Microsoft on the west landing project by completing a constructability review, which determined that a different type of footings was needed to support the structure’s piers. HNTB later assisted with contractor procurement and served as construction manager.
The finished west landing provides an aesthetically pleasing transition from the RTS Pedestrian Bridge to Microsoft’s west campus, building on design concepts already established on the bridge. An elegant, lowprofile design visually opens the approach to the west campus. Finishes, including colored and textured concrete and landscape edge planters, match the bridge design.
Pedestrians use a grand staircase to enter a “mixer plaza” that ushers them onto the west campus. A loop ramp separates from the pedestrian walkway, circling bikers directly to and from the 520 Bike Trail, an important connector to the Seattle metro region’s impressive trail network. The west landing provides ADA-compliant access to the RTS pedestrian bridge via the loop ramp and a glass elevator.
Meeting long-term regional needs
Ryan said the completed RTS Pedestrian Bridge and West Landing, coupled with Sound Transit’s new Redmond Technology Station as part of the East Link Extension, meets key needs for the region.
“Commuting options have become ever more relevant,” she said. “Microsoft was heavily involved in the East Link connection that brought light rail to Redmond. People require the flexibility to strategize their days, their lives and their commutes. The pedestrian bridge solution has made a major difference in how people are planning their days, where they are meeting and how they are connecting.”
As an aesthetically stunning neighborhood landmark, the bridge has quickly become a vibrant public space that enhances safety and improves accessibility for thousands of residents and commuters daily. n
CONTACT
MARK HOLMES, HNTB Northwest Division Construction Services Group Director (206) 915-1156 n msholmes@hntb.com
RESHAPING A REGION
Just east of the Great Salt Lake, the new, 16-mile West Davis Highway transforms travel and addresses growing population and transportation needs
IN WESTERN WEBER AND DAVIS
counties, just north of Salt Lake City, the Utah Department of Transportation expects a 74% increase in residents by 2050. With a strong demand for new housing, commercial development and active transportation, a substantial improvement to mobility was needed in the area to keep up with expected growth.
That improvement came this past January as communities along the corridor came together to celebrate the opening of the West Davis Highway, a transformative project that will reshape how the region moves for decades to come.
Shared vision for mobility
The West Davis Highway, which opened January 2024, is part of UDOT’s long-range vision to improve mobility and enhance quality of life in northern Utah. It provides key connections to I-15 and Legacy Parkway (SR-67) north of Salt Lake City. UDOT utilized a best value, design-build delivery method to accelerate the project schedule by two years.
HNTB served as the project’s lead design consultant along with more than 10 design partners to Farmington Bay Constructors (FBC), a joint venture made up of Ames Construction, Wadsworth Brothers Construction and Staker Parson Materials & Construction. This design-build team worked together to deliver on UDOT’s goals of improving regional mobility, enhancing peak-period mobility, increasing interconnection between transportation modes, supporting local growth objectives and providing more pedestrian and bicycle options.
The highway project is a complex, 16-mile segment, which involved a freeway-to-freeway interchange and several service interchanges, multiple grade separations, 40 structures and a greenfield alignment through soft soils with a high water table. It also included Utah’s longest-span bridge with integral bents.
“FBC, along with HNTB as our design partner, was committed to a team environment and project success,” said Robert Patcheck, FBC project manager, Ames Construction. “The collaborative process we established generated numerous innovative ideas. HNTB brought knowledgeable design-build engineers who understood construction methods and the importance of keeping on schedule.”
To enhance communication and efficiency, the contractor and design project team co-located in a workspace with UDOT’s project team.
Innovation in a context-sensitive design
Drawing on expertise in offices across the country, the design-build team developed a context-sensitive design and met almost daily with UDOT through the design stage to advance ideas around design geometry, materials, constructability and maintenance. Together, the agency and the project team assessed how the project design would meet the goals of maximizing design and construction quality while minimizing stakeholder and environmental impacts. Additionally, the future needs of West Davis Highway were taken into account by reducing the long-term costs for maintaining the infrastructure.
When reviewing the bridges and crossings along the alignment, the team identified the I-15/Legacy Parkway southeast interchange and the nearby 650 West overpass as key areas for innovation.
UDOT’s preliminary southeast interchange design staggered the northbound and southbound ramps, spreading them out over a mile. The revised design co-located the ramps, making them more compact. The reconfiguration proved less costly to construct, reduced constructiontimeandminimizedwetlandimpacts.
Another innovation was a change to the initial crossing design of West Davis Highway and 650 West. Instead of having West Davis Highway cross over 650 West, it goes under it.
“There were buried petroleum and high-pressure gas lines in this area,” said Yvette Abdelmalek, HNTB design manager. “The lines had minimal tolerance to settlement, and the more soil placed on them, the more they would have deflected. We needed to achieve zero inches of deflection of those lines. By reversing the configuration taking 650 West up and over West Davis Highway we reduced the amount of fill needed and eliminated settlement risk.”
Early investment pays off
The area’s geotechnical conditions also offered opportunities for innovation. Soils along the alignment are extremely soft. A year before UDOT awarded the project contract, the contractor team invested in the construction of a test fill. Monitoring the huge dirt stockpile over 12 months allowed the team to determine how much the existing soils would settle or rebound.
“FBC, along with HNTB as our design partner, was committed to a team environment and project success. The collaborative process we established generated numerous innovative ideas. HNTB brought knowledgeable designbuild engineers that understood construction methods and the importance of schedule.”
ROBERT PATCHECK
FBC PROJECT MANAGER, AMES CONSTRUCTION
“The test fill gave us a year of site-specific data over and above what UDOT provided and gave us certainty about what to expect as the project progressed,” Abdelmalek said. “That investment by our contractor team shortened the schedule by a year, informed our design and helped us significantly reduce geotechnical risk.”
Based on testing site results, the team was able to accurately predict the resulting settlement and plan the work more efficiently. They also elected to use lightweight geofoam fill, which reduced the weight placed on the soft soils, minimizing settlement adjacent to I-15 and Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
Protecting the Great Salt Lake ecosystem
The highway lies adjacent to two environmentally sensitive areas: the 4,400-acre Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy and Farmington Bay, an 18,000-acre, state-managed waterfowl management area. A combined 800 acres of wetland and upland habitat was added to these two areas for environmental mitigation.
UDOT worked closely with The Nature Conservancy and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to mitigate the new highway impacts to the wetlands and its wildlife. Because of the area’s environmental sensitivity, UDOT’s technical criteria required a quiet pavement and dark sky lighting, and a preference for a lower-profile roadway that would limit visual and noise impacts to the surrounding area.
The design-build team met these criteria and found additional ways to enhance the environment by expanding the size of a waterfowl pond and replacing high-maintenance irrigation ditch systems with pressure irrigation systems.
Stakeholder engagement and community impact
To continue to support and capitalize on the strong stakeholder relationships UDOT had built throughout the environmental process, the agency and the designbuild team established a resident working group (RWG) that met regularly during design and construction.
The RWG included representatives of local area governments, businesses, residents, emergency services and other stakeholders. RWG members acted as liaisons for their neighborhoods, and the meetings allowed the project team to share updates, gather feedback and respond to member questions.
Also important to UDOT was the creation of a trail system that parallels the length of West Davis Highway. The finished project includes 14.5 miles of new trails and two horse crossings that improve user experience for the area’s active trail community, including cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians.
The project’s trail design:
• Eliminated 3,160 feet of out-of-direction travel for Legacy Parkway Trail users
• Reduced the length of steep grades on Buffalo Ranch Trail
• Used an equestrian trail pavement section that creates a safer and more horse-friendly surface with greater traction for equestrian users along Buffalo Ranch and Great Salt Lake Shoreline Trails
• Connected the West Davis Trail to the Emigrant Trail, Rail Trail and Legacy Parkway Trail to create an expansive, connected trail system
In addition, where the trails run within 50 feet of the highway, crash-rated barriers were installed to ensure safety for trail users.
Delivering a transformative corridor
The West Davis Highway improves regional mobility for the area’s growing population while minimizing impacts to the environment and the communities it serves. Six new interchanges connect the new highway to I-15, Legacy Parkway, and key state and local roads to increase travel capacity in Davis County.
The opening took place nine months ahead of schedule, the result of what UDOT Executive Director Carlos Braceras called, “a concerted effort to open up this new highway as soon as possible because we know it will immediately make a huge difference in people’s lives.”
“Behind the project’s success was a shared vision by the design-build team to deliver on UDOT’s goals,” said Juan Uribe, HNTB project executive. “The collaboration among the team, with the client and with the communities enabled us to achieve best value a blend of innovations, construction speed, cost effectiveness and an accelerated schedule.”
Plans are already underway for a second phase that will extend the West Davis Highway northward, supporting the next stage of growth in the area and ensuring achievement of UDOT’s vision to “Keep Utah Moving.” n
CONTACT
YVETTE ABDELMALEK, HNTB Design Manager yabdelmalek@hntb.com n (714) 460-1655
TO LAST REBUILT
A crucial link in the nation’s rail system is ready for another century of use
UP TO 50 TRAINS A DAY CROSS
the Cowlitz River on the BNSF Bridge 81.4 in the rural area of Vader, Washington. It may be remote, but its presence is an essential link in transporting goods. The bridge and the trains it carries have been important to the region for more than 110 years, especially as the single North-South rail route in the area.
In 2013, BNSF Railway determined the Bridge 81.4 had reached the end of its 100-year service life and needed to be replaced to meet current standards and to replace the non-redundant pin-connected truss main span.
“This bridge is an important link in our network, supporting both our business and the passenger operations of several agencies. Replacing the old structure was vital to maintaining the reliability of this corridor,” said Michael Schaefer, assistant director bridge construction, BNSF Railway.
BNSF brought in the HNTB team as designers on the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CMGC) delivered project. The CMGC project delivery model is a process where the contractor acts as a construction manager during preconstruction stages and as the general contractor during the actual construction period.
The old Bridge 81.4 was a 663-foot-long double main track over the Cowlitz River. HNTB replaced it with a new structure, 1,100-feet-long and with 12 spans, four of them long deck plate girder spans ranging in length from 143 feet 4 inches to 207 feet 6 inches long.
“We’ve used similar span lengths on other projects, but the permitting requirements limited the number of piers in the river, and that necessitated a longer span,” said Temple Overman, HNTB construction project manager. “However, we were able to ship the girders in different splice lengths, so when they arrived at the site they could be bolted together. The deck plate girder spans consist of four girders per track, which provides a more redundantstructurethantheoldtrussspan.”
CowlitzRiver
BNSF Bridge 81.4
Keeping trains moving
Concerns from abutting landowners prevented the team from drilling borings at the proposed pier locations until full access was made possible by the construction of a temporary work bridge built adjacent to the new bridge and access roads pioneered on one end from an existing rock quarry. The work bridge was 44-foot-high and 42-foot-wide, 45 feet above the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) and made of steel pipe piles and beams that could be reused for other temporary work bridges in the future. The work bridge facilitated precise placement of the foundations in the river and the ability to pick the steel girders and set on the new foundations.
About 720 feet across the Cowlitz River from bank-tobank, a gravel road on the south side of the bridge and a 20-foot-tall geofabric wall off of the north bank were constructed to provide bank-to-bank access.
The work bridge and road were removed upon completion of the project, leaving no evidence that they had ever been there.
“It was difficult to fully understand the geology of the area during the design process,” said Overman.
“We were able to drill two borings during the design phase, but they were further away from the bridge due to access issues and not at the proposed substructure locations. So, we had to make some assumptions in our design plans regarding the top of rock elevation.”
The risks to not having the borings during the design phase include the potential for not having adequate casing or rebar lengths and also schedule impacts. The team handled these risks through the CMGC delivery method.
When precisely placed borings were finally made possible, the team discovered a significant elevation change the basalt rock layer was unexpectedly deep at one end of the bridge and almost nearing the surface at the other. Also, numerous boulders made driving H-piles as planned difficult even with pile points installed. So, the team modified the plans to drill rock sockets for the H-piles.
This project also included temporary piles for the drilled shaft oscillator frame, girder erection falsework pile below OHWM, four 9-feet and 10-inch diameter shafts approximately 180-feet deep, sheet pile shoring, permanentpilingandcast-in-placeconcrete.
Safety first
Safety is a top concern on any project. Keeping the trains running and the bridge as fully operable as possible during replacement meant rigorous safety processes and procedures had to be established and followed during the BNSF 81.4 bridge replacement.
Every morning, a 7 a.m. safety meeting kicked off the day, and an employee-in-charge, or EIC, would maintain communications with trains as they approached the worksite. Upon seeing a yellow flag two miles from the bridge, the train operator would contact the EIC and ask for permission to enter the work zone. Then, the EIC would notify crews to clear the track, and the train would pass safely through. Even though the EIC was fully empowered to stop the train, that almost never happened.
“I would say that maybe one out of 100 times we would stop the train because we were working too close to the tracks,” said Steve Chase, HNTB resident engineer. “At one time, two cranes were picking a steel girder and a train was able to come through the working limits because the cranes stopped any movement toward the track.”
A
work process for smooth integration
The project was an extraordinary example of cooperation and teamwork among many disparate stakeholders. The design and construction of Bridge 81.4 were notable for the almost seamless interactions between regional permitting agencies, landowners and the Cowlitz and Chehalis Confederated Tribes, whose ancestral lands are near the bridge. Processes for communication were put into place early, and consistent engagement helped avoid possible negative impacts on tribal lands, communities, fishing access and historic and cultural sites.
Another factor in the project’s success was the CMGC project delivery model. This structure enabled BNSF to fully utilize the experience, knowledge and skill sets of the entire project team, which helped identify and resolve issues early on, including potential risks and budgeting.
“Using the CMGC process helped us minimize obstacles, and we could tailor our plans and details based on the contractors’ specific equipment,” Overman said. “We received good advice during our design phase, so we knew that the project was completely constructable, and it drove great collaboration between HNTB, the contractor and BNSF.” n
CONTACT
TEMPLE OVERMAN, HNTB Construction Project Manager (816) 527-2726 n toverman@hntb.com
“Using the CMGC process helped us minimize obstacles, and we could tailor our plans and details based on the contractors’ specific equipment. We received good advice during our design phase, so we knew that the project was completely constructable, and it drove great collaboration between HNTB, the contractor and BNSF.”
TEMPLE OVERMAN HNTB CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGER
The HNTB Companies Infrastructure Solutions
Transformative Pathway
The stunning new Redmond Technology Station pedestrian bridge transforms mobility, safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists in Redmond, Washington’s Overlake community. Spanning 20 roadway lanes and two light rail tracks, the bridge connects Microsoft’s two campuses, expands commuting options and creates an appealing public space for an entire community.
