A message from Secretary Lynn Peterson

WSDOT has been in the news a lot lately regarding Bertha and the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program and more recently, the 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV Program.

Some of that coverage has been light hearted and other coverage has been more serious and raised concerns about WSDOT’s management of our mega projects.

Our projects are complex. No other city or state in the nation has projects like these going on. We are building the widest bored tunnel in the world and one of the largest floating bridges in the world. We need these projects to improve how our residents commute to work, home and play.

As each of us knows, projects encounter obstacles. How many of us have been involved in a project – big or small; at home or at work – and have encountered setbacks? Our projects are no different; they are just bigger and in the public eye. What defines our agency and how our public views us is how we manage through these challenges. That’s what counts. That’s what matters.

We’ve made mistakes. Our 520 bridge pontoon design error resulted in depleting the majority of contingency funds for that project. I spoke about that on Wednesday. We are doing what we can to manage that error. We’ve identified existing funding sources to cover these costs and keep the project on track. At this time, we don’t foresee the need for any changes in tax rates, fees or toll rates to cover the increased costs from contract change orders.

Bertha is stopped. We knew she would encounter challenges as she makes her way north. We planned for obstacles in our budget. WSDOT has been transparent about how hard this tunneling work is and it will continue to be. I’m impressed by the public’s knowledge and interest in not only the project, but in Bertha herself. People asked me “How’s she doing?” not long after tunneling stopped. The answer is: Bertha will be fine.

I understand people’s fear that these large, visible projects will become a statistic and that we will make national headlines for failure. Failure is not an option. We need these projects to be successful to better serve you – our residents. We will continue to manage them well, be accountable, celebrate our successes and be transparent about our challenges.

WSDOT strives for transparency with the media and the public and this makes our agency and valued employees vulnerable to negativity. Transparency is hard and it doesn’t always feel good, but it’s the right thing. We can’t just talk about our successes. We – WSDOT, our employees and the public – need to talk about everything transportation related. The more you are engaged, the more you understand the opportunities and challenges we face as an agency and as a transportation system both now and in the future.

WSDOT has a responsibility to be good stewards of transportation dollars. We’ve made – and continue to make – changes (pdf) to how we do business to ensure efficiencies are made, that we manage well through our challenges and we ensure your tax dollars are accounted for and well spent.

by guest blogger Chad Schuster

At first glance, the curvy temporary stretch of State Route 99 that opened last fall to the west of Seattle’s stadiums seems like an unusual path for a highway to take. Certainly it’s not the straightest point between two lines. But viewed in a broader context – keeping the highway open during SR 99 tunnel construction – it’s most certainly the right path. It saves everyone in the long run by maintaining a vital route to and through downtown Seattle as we continue replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Fittingly, the path to completion of that circuitous section of highway, and the permanent section immediately to its south, was unconventional. Yes, we always weigh risks and look for opportunities to save time and money. But this time our vigilance resulted in big changes – most notably swapping an underpass for an overpass at the eleventh hour – made with an eye toward big savings. The history behind that decision is a complicated one. The result is not: We replaced the southern mile of the Alaskan Way Viaduct one year early and under budget. And our last-minute design changes saved more than $50 million.

Of course, making big changes complicated an already challenging project. We knew that we would have to make minor adjustments along the way, and even re-do work in some cases. But the cost of those minor re-dos was well worth it given the overall cost savings and the safety benefit of removing half of the seismically vulnerable viaduct. Here’s the brief history of how it all went down.

• The contract to build the viaduct’s south-end replacement went to bid in early 2010.
• Our original construction budget for this project was $152.6 million, plus an additional $38 million to manage construction, and minimize risk and impacts to the public. Altogether, the total budget for the project was $190 million. 
• An important component of the contract was an underpass that would allow drivers to bypass a busy train track that crosses South Atlantic Street, near the entrance to the Port of Seattle’s busiest freight terminal.
• As contractors prepared bids, a value engineering study of the program yielded the potential for major savings if we changed from the underpass to an overpass.
• Recognizing the value, and being confident in our ability to deliver the project while minimizing impacts to the public, we chose to make the switch. We removed the underpass from the contract and told bidders the overpass would be put out to bid later in a separate contract. We remained in close contact with interested bidders to ensure they understood the changes as they prepared their bids.
• Skanska USA Civil was announced as the low-bidder on the main south-end project in May 2010. Thanks to a highly competitive bidding climate, their bid of $114.6 million was 25 percent under our construction estimate. As a result of the low bid, the overall project budget was adjusted from $190 million to $152 million.
• Skanska completed their work in September 2012, one year early, at a final construction cost of $121 million. A portion of the additional cost was due to changes that were made necessary by the switch to an overcrossing. Add in the risk and construction management costs and you end up with $150 million – $2 million less than our adjusted budget. 
• In May 2012, the overcrossing contract was awarded to Atkinson Construction for $29.4 million, $6.2 million under our estimate. The estimated cost for building the underpass was $90 million.
• All contracts associated with the viaduct’s south-end replacement are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013, as originally planned.

What all of this really adds up to is this: our job is to deliver transportation projects safely, on time and on budget, while minimizing impacts to the public. With the viaduct’s south-end replacement, we did that and more. It just so happened the best way there was the road less traveled. 

Giant blue cranes and drill rigs at the SR 99 tunnel boring machine launch pit site.

By guest blogger Chad Schuster

They stand in clusters, a half-dozen or so of them, 170-foot towers of steel in a large field of dirt to the west of Seattle’s stadiums. From the sky they look like giant robots chatting it up, or preparing for battle, maybe. Whatever they’re doing, you can tell it’s big. Really big.

"They’re a little bit like trailblazers," said Matt Preedy, WSDOT’s deputy administrator for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, of the giant blue cranes and drill rigs at work on the SR 99 Tunnel Project. "Their job is to prepare a path for the tunnel boring machine."

This being a tunnel, that path ultimately leads underground. But before the boring begins, crews must first build a launch pit – the task currently being undertaken by the cranes and drill rigs – where the machine will begin tunneling next year. Significant work also must occur in the ground alongside the tunnel route, which is why the tunneling operation, mammoth machines included, is set to begin a slow march north toward the ferry terminal before stopping just south of Yesler Way.

To make room, crews today rerouted six blocks of waterfront traffic from Alaskan Way to a newly improved road beneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct. For visitors to the waterfront, that means big changes to traffic, parking and ferry access starting today and lasting through at least early 2014. For fans of extreme engineering, it means the show is about to begin.

"These cranes and drill rigs are amazing, but they’re really just the machines behind the machine," Preedy said.

The machine is the project’s 57.5 foot diameter tunnel boring machine, the world’s largest. Currently being manufactured in Japan, the machine is scheduled to arrive next spring and begin its northward journey by the middle of 2013. Its departure point? You guessed it – the dirt field currently occupied by the blue machines.

Right now the machines are drilling concrete piles 100 feet into the ground to form the walls of the launch pit. Excavation of the pit will begin this summer. Crews are also busy relocating utilities and reinforcing a two-block section of the viaduct near Yesler Way, above the path of the future tunnel.

If all of that sounds complicated, you’re right.

"Tunneling is complicated business," Preedy said. "Coordination is key because crews have to deal with so many moving parts. We have a lot of exciting work to do before we turn the keys on the tunnel boring machine."

Fortunately you don’t have to be an engineer to enjoy the spectacle.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime project," Preedy said. "People really should come down and see it for themselves."

Note: Visitors to the waterfront can learn more about the SR 99 Tunnel Project and the nearby Pioneer Square neighborhood by visiting Milepost 31, WSDOT’s information center at 211 First Ave. S.