The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) selected Kiewit-General-Manson, A Joint Venture, with Floyd|Snider as a teaming member, as the apparent best price and technical proposal for replacing the aging State Route 520 floating bridge. Construction is scheduled to start on Lake Washington in 2012. The design-build contract includes the six-lane floating bridge, with wider, safer shoulders, transit/HOV lanes, and a bicycle/pedestrian path; towing 33 concrete pontoons; and building 44 supplemental concrete pontoons, 58 anchors, and an east approach connection to SR 520, along with a new maintenance facility and dock. The plan also focuses on impacting traffic as little as possible during construction of the new bridge and the dismantling and removal of the old.

Floyd|Snider headed the project environmental permitting efforts for Kiewit-General-Manson for construction of the graving dock and initial 33 concrete pontoons in Grays Harbor. Floyd|Snider will again lead the environmental permitting for the Design-Builder, in close coordination with WSDOT, and with subcontracted assistance from Anchor QEA. KPFF and Berger-Abam are joint venture partners who will provide design services for the team.

The project’s environmentally-focused construction delivery plan will reduce impacts to the environment and local communities. In addition to optimizing the design and ensuring that WSDOT’s stated goals for the project are met, Kiewit-General-Manson’s proposal protects and enhances nearby shoreline and wetlands, improves culvert fish passages and natural vegetation habitat, increases water quality and runoff treatment into Lake Washington, and provides measurable benefits in costs through recycling and reuse. Kiewit-General-Manson’s bid price of $586.5 million for construction of a new, six-lane floating bridge was $163.5 million less than the upset price of $750 million included in the request for proposals. More details about the SR 520 program are online at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr520bridge.