Date:
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Contact:
Eric Soderquist, Project Manager, (360) 704-6310
Lloyd Brown, Communication Manager, (360) 357-2789
OLYMPIA – Washington State Department of Transportation officials today announced that three sites are front-runners as possible locations for the construction of pontoons that will be used to replace the east half of the State Route 104 Hood Canal Bridge.
After an initial engineering and environmental review of 18 sites proposals WSDOT now will be concentrating on developing plans for three proposed sites; Mats Mats Bay north of Port Hadlock, Port of Everett South Terminal, and a combination of existing Puget Sound dry dock facilities proposed by FCB Facilities Team. WSDOT also continues to investigate with the project contractor, Kiewit-General of Poulsbo, the building of bridge anchors in the Port Angeles area.
“The urgency in moving ahead was a major factor in our site suitability review,” said Eric Soderquist, Hood Canal Bridge project manager. “There may be other proposals that should not be completely ruled out but these three now seem to provide the best chance of getting pontoon construction underway most quickly.”
A report detailing WSDOT’s analysis of each site proposal is available on-line at www.hoodcanalbridge.com. The report divides the 18 proposals into the likeliest construction locations, possible construction locations, less possible and unlikely sites.
WSDOT will move immediately to the discuss environmental and engineering work with FCB Facilities Team, which is a partnership involving the Concrete Technology graving dock on the Blair Waterway in Tacoma, Todd Shipyards located on Terminal Island in Seattle, and the AML/Duwamish Shipyard on the Duwamish Waterway. Concurrently, WSDOT will also begin design and public outreach efforts to support development of new facilities at Mats Mats Bay owned by Glacier Northwest and the Port of Everett South Terminal. Any consideration of other sites will be suspended until the next phase of work can be completed for the three sites that now seem most likely.
Secretary Doug MacDonald announced Dec. 21, 2004 that WSDOT would stop work at a 22-acre graving dock site west of downtown Port Angeles after the discovery of Native American artifacts and human burials. For more information contact Lloyd Brown, communication manager, (360) 357-2789.
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