ASCE Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Awards 2007

Geotechnical

Escala Condominium involved one of the deepest soldier pile and tie back shoring systems in the City of Seattle at a depth of 94 feet.  The nine-story underground parking structure and high rise tower was built after the geotechnical engineers developed an automated instrumentation system that allowed monitoring the shoring system directly from the firm’s offices in real time. Situated off of 4th Avenue and Virginia Street, the construction solved many utility conflicts and underpinned the surrounding historic buildings using 270 ksi steel tendons which reduced costs and steel quantities on the project. 

Designer: Richard Luark, P.E., Golder Associates,
Owner: Lexas Companies, LLC

Ports and Waterways

Alternate Outfall Replacement Project in which the designer worked closely with the City of Bellingham to develop a replacement strategy for the City’s existing 30-inch diameter Alternate Outfall, which serves as a second outfall for the Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant when peak wet weather flows exceed the capacity of the 60-inch Primary Outfall. The existing Alternate Outfall was undersized, had numerous joint failures and the terminus was buried in sediment. An extensive eelgrass mitigation plan was developed to minimize ecological impacts to a pristine eelgrass bed that had to be crossed by the replacement outfall.  The design team worked closely with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington Department of Natural Resources to implement several innovative procedures to aid in eelgrass recovery.  Mitigation included a new eelgrass removal method and the first large scale use on the west coast of a unique transplanting procedure that incorporated public outreach through the use of volunteers in its execution. 

Designer: Arthur Fleming, P.E., Hart Crowser, Seattle
Owner: Department of Public Works, City of Bellingham

Bremerton Floating Wave Attenuator was installed to expand and upgrade the Port of Bremerton’s Marina in downtown Bremerton. The 24.5-foot wide and 1,440 foot-long solid floating structure not only attenuates wind waves and ferry wakes but also serves as a public park, which allows non-boaters convenient and safe access to the waters of Sinclair Inlet. The design and construction of the floating wave attenuator utilized several unique elements:  1. State of the art analysis to determine attenuation performance and hydrodynamic behavior of the floating structure.  2.  The use of cast-in-place ready-mixed concrete to fabricate the pontoon hull sections. The concrete mix design utilized a blend of lightweight fine aggregate imported from Colorado and normal fine aggregate. 3.  Post-tensioning of the 12 individual concrete pontoon sections to create a single 1,440 long floating structure that is moored with 50 separate mooring lines.

Designer: Woosuk  Ahn, P.E. Reid Middleton, construction support engineering services. Everett
Art Anderson Associates
Owner: Port of Bremerton

Structural

Naval Hospital Bremerton Seismic Upgrades Program where the existing structure was reused, the building character was retained and a new entry was incorporated that adds a significant visual impact to the building.   Retrofitting existing buildings is becoming increasing needed as for new development become more costly and more challenging to build on. 

Designer: Dave Swanson, P.E., S.E.  Reid Middleton,   Everett
Owner: Naval Hospital, Bremerton

SR 509 Marine View Drive Bridge which accomplished a critical restoration element with a very low impact to the environment.  The teamwork between the builder and the designers focused on process and sequence during design and a well-detailed execution by the contractor.  This teamwork combined with the economic and environmental impacts were viewed as noteworthy and could be used as an example of what is possible when all parties work together. 

Designer: Dale Lydin, PE INCA Engineers, Inc.
Owner: Des Moines Creek Basin Committee

Transportation and Development

Canyon Park Freeway Station in Bothell was chosen due to its effective use of materials and aesthetics. The project used simple materials such as concrete, steel, glass and paints to construct a facility that is both pleasing to the eye and relatively low cost. The design used simple lines and curves on the piers and canopy to simplify construction and provide visual interest. The project also received high scores in excellence in design due to its unique nature of a pedestrian overpass over a freeway.

Designer: Chuck Purnell, P.E., INCA Engineers, Inc. 
Owner: Sound Transit

SE 256th Street/164th Avenue SE Improvement Project in Covington was chosen due to its creation of an innovative, aesthetic roundabout instead of a signal. The roundabout will reduce accidents and injuries and providing safe crossings for high-school students.
Designer: Don Vondran, P.E.,City of Covington, 
Owner: City of Covington

Small Projects and Non-Construction

Camp Waskowitz Water Tank Repair where a new reinforced concrete tank was constructed inside of the existing redwood water tank allowing for reuse of the existing tank, minimizing impacts on the surrounding environment, speeding construction by eliminating permitting associated with developing a new site and retaining an attractive infrastructure element in a historic setting and context.

Designer: Greg Guillen, PE, SE   C G Engineering, Edmonds
Owner: Highline School District

2007 Comprehensive Sidewalk Asset Inventory in Seattle which combined GPS and GIS data base and mapping software on handheld computers with digital cameras and Bluetooth wireless data transmission.  This was a nice blend of electronic media to create inventory which will be very useful in characterizing risk and needs. The work was used in preparing a master plan of current and future pedestrian needs.

Designer: HWA GeoSciences, Inc.  Ralph Boirum , Lynnwood
Owner: Seattle DOT