Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the joint venture contractor Kiewit/General/Manson (KGM) have also unveiled the latest designs and construction plans for the new State Route 520 floating bridge.
"Starting floating bridge construction on Lake Washington is a huge milestone 15 years in the making," said state transportation secretary Paula Hammond. "Crews will build a stronger, more reliable floating bridge – and designs show the integrated architectural features will be distinctive and memorable for generations to come."
The new six-lane bridge will include a dedicated lane in each direction for buses and carpools, and a path for walkers and cyclists. Five public viewpoints will be built along the path, and four column-like sentinels will mark where the new bridge transitions between land and water.
Work starts this week to assemble construction barges to form a work zone on the water. Later this summer, the first batch of 77 huge floating concrete bridge pontoons will be towed into the lake and assembled north of the existing 1963 bridge. The target date for opening the new bridge to traffic is the end of 2014.
"We have an aggressive schedule, and contractor crews have more than two years of challenging work ahead of them at multiple work sites around the region," said WSDOT SR 520 program director Julie Meredith. Crews for Kiewit-General are building 33 pontoons in Aberdeen as part of a US$378 million project. Under a separate $586.6 million contract, KGM is building 44 additional pontoons in Tacoma, 58 massive concrete anchors and hundreds of concrete road decks in Kenmore, and ultimately the floating bridge.
Including highway construction on the Eastside, an estimated 900 people have worked on SR 520 corridor improvements to date, with more expected as floating bridge construction ramps up on Lake Washington.
On 23 March, WSDOT received the 18th and final major permit needed to allow construction of the new floating bridge on Lake Washington, capping 15 years of analysis and design. Legislation signed by govenor Chris Gregoire on 23 March allows construction to begin while an appeal of five of those permits is heard by the state Shorelines Hearings Board.
