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January 27, 2020

National finalist: Gold award
Transportation

GeoEngineers

Photo provided by GeoEngineers
The new South 224th Street bridge over state Route 167 adds an east-west route through Kent.

Project: South 224th Street expansion/SR 167 bridge project
Client: City of Kent

East-west travel through the city of Kent — particularly to and from Kent’s East Hill neighborhood — has long been a challenge. State Route 167, a limited access highway and major north-south artery, runs along the east side of the valley, funneling East Hill residents onto just two primary east-west routes into downtown.

Because neither of these two roads could handle the area’s growing traffic load, the city of Kent began a multiphased effort to complete a new corridor that would link the east and west hills through the valley and downtown Kent.

GeoEngineers was tapped to provide geotechnical subconsultant services along with environmental, hydraulic and geotechnical recommendations for the easternmost phase of the corridor. The work included a bridge across SR 167, an associated new road alignment, a stormwater detention pond and an improved culvert.

The GeoEngineers team encountered unforeseen challenges, but met them by expanding its scope, including new services and pursuing creative solutions along the way.

GeoEngineers encountered significant differences between soils on either side of the South 224th Street bridge over SR 167. The site’s proximity to the valley wall meant a transition between types of soil deposits on either side of the highway. The unexpected discovery of strong artesian conditions beneath the bridge’s east abutment further complicated site investigation and construction. GeoEngineers recommended a detailed and multifaceted strategy for effectively and safely drilling shafts in these artesian conditions, ultimately recommending slightly different foundation designs for either side of the bridge.

To accommodate improvements to an associated roadway, the GeoEngineers team needed to replace an aging timber bridge over Garrison Creek. Though originally under contract for geotechnical services, GeoEngineers also provided hydrology and hydraulic analyses of the stream and the pile-supported arched culvert proposed as a replacement for the bridge. In the process of designing a replacement culvert, GeoEngineers also improved upstream access for critical fish species.

GeoEngineers also stepped in to perform a document review after the city of Kent expressed concern about a stormwater detention pond that had formerly been used for steel slag disposal. Engineers provided the owner environmental recommendations so construction could continue.


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