May 7, 2018

Three local projects win national awards for public works in 2018

Photo by Will Austin [enlarge]

The $46 million CSO reduction program was the largest water quality effort in Port Angeles history.

Photo by Lara Swimmer [enlarge]

UW’s West Campus Utility Plant provides chilled water and emergency power to the Seattle campus.

Photo provided by the city of Tacoma [enlarge]

Tacoma Avenue South Bridge was built in 1930, and needed repairs and restoration.

Three projects in Washington won national 2018 Project of the Year awards from the American Public Works Association.

They will be honored at the National APWA Conference in Kansas City Aug. 26-29.

Each year, APWA state chapters nationwide honor the top public works projects with the awards. Projects are submitted in five categories: structures, transportation, environment, historical restoration/preservation, and disaster or emergency construction/repair.

National winners are selected from submittals across the country.

Here are the Washington projects that won national awards:

• Tacoma Avenue South Bridge repair and restoration. The five-span 333-foot-long and 52-foot-wide steel girder and frame bridge is in the heart of the city. Since it was built in 1930, the bridge that spans South Tacoma Way and a stretch of railroad was moved several inches and stressed by seismic events. The bridge's sidewalks were sagging, and had been closed for safety.

Using a federal grant, the city and TranTech Engineering designed a safe, functional and aesthetically pleasing bridge rehabilitation. The team used lightweight concrete, widened the bridge's sidewalks through an outrigger system, and incorporated a railing similar to those nearby at the historic Holy Rosary Church, to create a complementary look.

The contractor is Quigg Brothers and the consultant is TranTech Engineering, LLC.

• City of Port Angeles Combined Sewer Overflows project. It reduced CSO discharging into the north Olympic Peninsula harbor as much as 240 million gallons, dozens of times per year, to zero. The $46 million CSO reduction program was the largest water quality effort in Port Angeles history.

During design, costs were reduced by repurposing existing infrastructure, including an abandoned paper mill processing tank and industrial water pipe, which helped the project avoid excavation along an environmentally sensitive shoreline and in areas containing historic artifacts.

The contractors are TEK Construction and Imco General Construction, and the consultant is Brown and Caldwell.

• University of Washington's West Campus Utility Plant. It provides chilled water and emergency power to the Seattle campus. The 100-year-old facility had reached capacity, but had no room to expand. Within the existing building's small footprint, the design team and stakeholders created a facility that maximized the water and power produced, created an attractive “Campus Gateway” and demonstrated the university's commitment to sustainability.

It was the first UW project to adopt Envision (an alternative green building rating system) and became the first Envision-certified higher education building in the U.S.

The contractor is Mortenson Construction and the architect is The Miller Hull Partnership.

Here are the winners of Washington APWA awards:

• City of Anacortes, Wastewater Treatment Plant Outfall Repair

• Thurston County Public Works, Beaver Creek Road Bridge

• City of Gig Harbor, Lift Station 4B and Welcome Plaza

• City of Everett Public Works, Broadway Bridge Replacement

• City of SeaTac, Connecting 28th/24th Avenue South

• City of Bellevue, 2NE 4th Street/120th Ave. New Corridor Project

• Washington State Dept. of Transportation, EI-5/NW La Center Road Interchange Project