Tetra Tech/KCM
Specialty: Wastewater and surface water management
President: Steve Wagner
Year founded: 1943 as James Carey & Associates; renamed Tetra Tech/KCM in 1995
Headquarters: Seattle
2003 revenues: $16 million
Projected 2004 revenues: $17 million
Largest current projects: Covering Lincoln Reservoir at Cal Anderson Park for the city of Seattle; expansion of the Atlantic/Central Transit Base for King County Metro; part of the design team for the Brightwater Wastewater Treatment Conveyance System for King County
After 60 years in the business, Tetra Tech/KCM has seen its share of economic ups and downs. This latest downturn, however, didn’t have much of an effect on the company, said President Steve Wagner.
“We’ve been pretty stable through this latest downturn,” Wagner said. “We’ve been growing modestly, about 5 to 10 percent a year, for the past three or four years.”
Diversity has helped keep the firm busy. The broad-based municipal engineering and architectural firm has a staff of about 100 working on public projects for states, cities and counties. Their work includes wastewater and surface water management, public works facilities and buildings, fisheries, aquaculture and some transportation projects.
“We are pretty diversified for a firm our size. We have a pretty broad-based group of professionals,” Wagner said. “That helps us a lot to stay stable and weather some of these economic storms.”
Tetra Tech/KCM has been involved in the design process for the conveyance system for the $1 billion-plus Brightwater wastewater treatment project for King County. The firm worked with HDR on the pre-design, and is currently working with Montgomery Watson on the final design. “Final design will go on for the next two to three years,” Wagner said.
The firm is also the prime civil, structural and mechanical engineer for the city of Seattle’s project to cover the Lincoln Reservoir at Cal Anderson Park. The $12.1 million project includes two giant vaults to be built over the 21 million-gallon reservoir, resulting in four more acres of open space at the park.
Lincoln Reservoir is the first in the city to be buried, and plans are in the works to cover another six. That will mean more work for firms such as Tetra Tech/KCM. “There’s going to be a pretty significant project coming up to cover all those reservoirs,” Wagner said. “That is quite a chunk of work out there — once that kicks off.”
Other projects the firm is working on include: wastewater treatment plants for the cities of Aberdeen, Stanwood and Winslow; a treatment plant on Vashon Island; the conveyance system for King County’s Soos Creek area pump station and pipeline; and the expansion of the Atlantic/Central Transit Base for King County Metro.