October 8, 2014

PCL starts $55M replacement for 1960s Factoria Transfer Station

Image courtesy of King County [enlarge]

Crews from PCL have started replacing King County's 1960s-era Factoria Transfer Station at 13800 S.E. 32nd St. in Bellevue.

A new $54.5 million transfer station will be built on the same 9.8-acre property as the existing station, including an additional 2 acres recently purchased by the county Solid Waste Division.

JRM&A is the architect, HDR is the engineer and Parametrix is project manager.

The three-year project is slated to finish in December 2017.

The new Factoria Recycling and Transfer Station will be larger and more efficient, according to the county. Compactors will increase the efficiency of loads transported to the landfill, and reduce the number of truck trips to and from the station by roughly 30 percent.

The station will also have easier-to-use areas for unloading and a more flexible design that will help divert recyclable materials from disposal.

Customers will be able to recycle yard waste, appliances, scrap metal and clean wood. The household hazardous waste collection area will also be improved.

The project will target a LEED gold rating. Sustainable features include rainwater harvesting for washing floors; translucent ceiling panels to improve natural lighting; recycled-content building materials such as steel, asphalt and concrete; and landscaping with drought-tolerant plants.

Upcoming work will involve deconstructing two county-owned warehouses, doing clearing and grading, and removing some trees from the construction site. Trees that grow to a similar height will be planted on the property as part of the overall landscaping plan.

Factoria is the third county transfer station replacement in recent years. In 2008, the county built a replacement for the Shoreline transfer station. A project to redevelop the Bow Lake transfer station was finished in 2013.