
May 15, 1998

WACA Award: Concrete Paving

Journal staff

Top honors in the Concrete Paving category went to the Community Transit Merrill Creek facility in Everett. It beat out three other projects: the Northwest Stone and Brick shipping center, East Olive Way and SR-290 Division to Lowell Road.

The Merrill Creek facility serves Community Transit's operations and maintenance requirements for over 200 buses. It was a design-build project that covered 10 acres of a former gravel pit that was backfilled with unknown soils. Tests on the soils determined high percentages of clay-like material with high moisture content, minimal bearing capacity and poor drainage characteristics.

Community Transit Merrill Creek facility

Top honors in the Concrete Paving category went to the Community Transit Merrill Creek facility.

To meet the economical requirements of the project, non-reinforced concrete was selected. For the bus travel lanes, 8 inches of concrete were placed over 6 inches of crushed recycled asphalt. For bus parking areas, 6 inches of concrete were placed over 6 inches of crushed recycled asphalt.

Concrete was selected for the bus facility because it is resistant to diesel fuel and hydraulic fluid while it is able to support the weight of heavy vehicles. Officials expect the pavement to last at least 40 years.

The runners up were the East Olive Way project and the SR-290 project.

Project teams

Community Transit Merrill Creek facility: Quadrant Corp., owner/developer; Engineers Northwest, structural engineer; GLY Construction, general contractor; Lance Mueller & Associates, architect; Salinas Construction Inc., concrete contractor; and CSR Associated, concrete supplier.

Northwest Stone and Brick shipping center: Northwest Stone and Brick, owner/developer; Allestad Construction and Design, general contractor; Tegland Concrete Construction, concrete contractor; and Stanwood Redi-Mix, concrete supplier.

East Olive Way: Seattle Public Utilities, owner/developer; City of Seattle, structural engineer and architect; Gary Merlino Construction, general and concrete contractor; and Stoneway Concrete, concrete supplier.

SR-290 Division to Lowell Road: WSDOT Eastern Region, owner/developer and architect; and Acme Materials & Construction, general and concrete contractor, and concrete supplier.