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SR 529 Steamboat Slough Bridge Rehabilitation

Schedule: Good The contractor had 157 days to complete the rehabilitation work and finished work 75.5 days ahead of schedule. Cost: Mixed Engineer's estimate: $8,195,081 Contractor’s bid amount: $7,813,619 Anticipated final payment: $12,950,000 This project was not scoped or planned adequately. Specifically, in the planning phase of this project, WSDOT did not fully anticipate the traffic impacts for this project and the impacts of the US 2, Hewitt Avenue Trestle project that was being constructed in the same vicinity at the same time. As a result, reductions in traffic impacts had to be negotiated with the contractor that significantly increased the cost of this project.

This project repaired and upgraded one of the two SR 529 bridges connecting Everett and Marysville. Repairs on the other bridge last year led to a large, unpopular, and unacceptable disruption to commuters. This year's work paid special attention to those problems and largely avoided them, but at significant cost in dollars.

Work on the bridge included replacing the bridge deck and steel support beams, rehabilitating electrical and mechanical components of the swing span, raising the control house, cleaning and painting the steel bridge structure, and strengthening the bridge against earthquakes.

The major focus during the entire work was placed on minimizing commuter disruption. Even after the project was awarded to the contractor for $7.8 million, additional effort was devoted to temporary asphalt paving of detour routes, additional flagging and traffic control, and so on. The construction bridge closure was originally scheduled for 157 days. WSDOT offered a substantial above-the-contract-price bonus to the contractor, Mowatt Construction, for early completion. Remarkably, the bridge was opened in 81.5 days – 75.5 days early. The cost of the bonus (about $1.5 million) and the extra work caused the contract to be completed at approximately 58% higher than the original engineer’s estimate. WSDOT intends to refine its bonus incentive schedules based on the experience of this project, but WSDOT also believes that the public strongly supports incentive programs that lessen construction disruption and that the public noticed and favorably responded to the construction management techniques employed on this job.

Contractor: Mowatt Construction

Contact: Amir Ahmadi, Project Engineer
Phone: 425-357-5113

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