October 8, 2026

RFQs on the way for next stage of downtown seawall

Photo from Magnusson Klemencic Associates [enlarge]

The project’s first phase replaced 3,700 linear feet of derelict seawall with a seismic-resistant structure with a salmon migration corridor and enhanced tidal marine environment.

The city of Seattle will soon be seeking design and environmental consulting to continue its decades-long effort replacing its aging seawall with one supporting today's waterfront needs and conditions.

An advance notice for the project appeared Sept. 29 in the DJC. The city plans to release an RFQ for that work in the fourth quarter of this year.

In the meantime, the Seattle Department of Transportation and the city's Office of the Waterfront, Civic Projects & Sound Transit (OWCPST) have established a secure Data Room to share project information as they develop the RFQ.

The project's Phase I was completed back in 2017 with the opening of the seismically resistant and salmon friendly Elliott Bay Central Seawall. That $210 million project ran from South Washington Street to Virginia Street, replacing multiple types of seawalls built in the 1920s and 1930s with a light-penetrating structure designed to withstand seismic forces and shore up the massive waterfront remaking that followed.

Photo by Kirk Hostetter [enlarge]

Overlook Walk under construction in 2024 beside Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion above the upgraded seawall.

The project replaced 3,700 linear feet of derelict seawall with a new one integrated with a salmon migration corridor, enhanced tidal habitat and an updated pedestrian promenade. Then came the many waterfront remaking projects built above.

The seawall was designed to last 75 years and withstand a battering from a future megaquake and rising sea levels. The project's many site improvements included a new habitat beach and pedestrian upgrades.

Its sprawling project team included Mortenson/Manson Joint Venture, general and concrete contractor; Magnusson Klemencic Associates, civil engineer and public realm lead; Parsons, structural engineer; James Corner Field Operations, landscape architect; APS Architectural Precast Structures, McMillen Jacobs Associates and Oldcastle Precast, precast elements; and Stoneway Concrete, ready-mix supplier.

REBUILDING THE NORTH SEAWALL

City of Seattle photo [enlarge]

Crews working on the Elliott Bay Central Seawall project that opened in 2017 install zee panels that provide space for salmon habitat.

Now, the city is gearing up for Phase II of the project, rebuilding the North Seawall along the waterfront from Virginia to Broad streets.

The RFQ on the way would advance Phase II's project readiness from its existing 35% design.

Future construction work upgrades the seawall where Phase I stopped at Virginia Street a few blocks north of the Seattle Central Waterfront's major Overlook Walk and Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion undertakings.

City of Seattle photo [enlarge]

The $210 million Phase I upgrade that opened in 2017 restored the function of a natural shoreline on the central waterfront.

It will run north to Broad Street at the Olympic Sculpture Park.

The new phase of seawall work will need to connect with its award-winning predecessor. The project will be partially funded by a federal FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation grant providing federal congressionally directed spending (PDM-CDS). It was allocated $1.15 million in federal funding in April for the 2026 fiscal year.

More money is needed to advance the project further.

Was your firm involved in the seawall's Phase I and not on our project team list? Reach out to Shawna and let her know!