A Weekly Summary of WSDOT News and Activities
Washington Jobs Now - SR 16 Nalley Valley interchange construction reaches one year mark
Progress in the first year of construction on the westbound I-5/SR 16 interchange has transformed the landscape and skyline of Tacoma's Nalley Valley. Columns for the new bridges connecting I-5 to westbound SR 16 stand next to the existing viaduct. To date, crews have completed 51 of 77 columns. |
Work completed in year one of Tacoma’s Nalley Valley interchange project is just the tip of the iceberg. A major traffic shift this spring opens the construction floodgates.
“If you compared photos of Nalley Valley taken last January and today, you’d be amazed how much the landscape and the skyline has changed in just 12 months,” said WSDOT Field Engineer Troy Watts. “We’ve done a ton of work, but there’s still a lot more to do.”
In the spring, westbound traffic moves to a new temporary westbound roadway, and when that happens the 131,000 drivers who use the I-5/SR 16 interchange will really begin to see the project take shape. The traffic shift allows crews to demolish the west end of existing viaduct, clearing the way for new roadways, ramps and bridges.
Freeway construction has transformed the Nalley Valley landscape. Since starting in January 2009, the nearly 200 workers building the new I-5/SR 16 Westbound Nalley Valley interchange have made significant progress:
- Sprague Avenue ramps demolished
- New temporary eastbound roadway built
- 69 of 84 deep-bore foundation shafts drilled
- 51 of 77 towering bridge columns complete
- 28 bridge girders set
- Seven stormwater ponds dug
- 12,000 cubic yards of concrete placed
- 70,000 cubic yards of earth excavated
- 140,000 tons of gravel brought to the site
“When the project is done, drivers will see the improvements are worth the inconvenience of construction,” said Watts.
The I-5/SR 16 interchange is one of Pierce County’s worst traffic bottlenecks. The project reduces congestion and improves safety by eliminating the traffic weave where vehicles from I-5 change lanes in order to merge onto SR 16 or exit at Sprague Avenue. Redesign of the Nalley Valley interchange is part of WSDOT’s ongoing congestion-relief effort in the Tacoma/Pierce County area.
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Maintenance & Operations feature - Rain or Shine the “Third Party Damage Crew” stays busy all the time
This three-member crew from WSDOT's Olympic Region helps keep motorists in Pierce and Thurston counties safe by repairing guardrail, cables and median barrier on major state highways. |
The three-member “Third Party Damage Crew” may be small in numbers, but the group’s hard work keeps drivers safe and recovers costs created by collisions on state highways.
WSDOT's Olympic Region crew is responsible for repairing and upgrading safety features damaged in collisions on state routes in Thurston and Pierce counties. The crew's expertise focuses on guardrails, cable and concrete median barriers and crash attenuators. The team is based out of WSDOT’s Lakeview Maintenance facility in Lakewood and is ready to go at a moment's notice. Crew members include Lead Technician Brandon Miller, and technicians Kyle Aslakson and Dick Parlari.
Assuring driver safety often calls for quick repairs when highway safety features are damaged. Cable-barrier repairs are a high-priority and if the collision occurs at locations that are prone to accidents, crews try to respond within three days. Sometimes the response timeframe is even shorter. For example, if a collision damages a section of concrete-median barrier, crews try to realign the barrier before opening all lanes of travel to traffic. Access to specialized equipment such as boom trucks and post drivers allow these workers to do a job quickly and efficiently.
“The ‘third party’ crew responds to an incredible amount of damage to state highways done by the traveling public, and the program works well given the high volume of traffic in Thurston and Pierce counties,” said Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Jones. “They free up other maintenance crews to address other roadway issues such as drainage, signing, pot holes and sweeping."
Another aspect of the job is recovering costs from the responsible party's insurance, so the repairs don’t come out of other state maintenance funds.
"During this tight budget time, recovering damage costs is a priority," said Miller.
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Update of projects under way
I-5 Bellingham - Crews closed lanes of I-5 at night in Bellingham to continue replacing cable median barrier. Crews will replace the existing three-strand, low-tension cable median barrier with four-strand, high-tension cable barrier. The left lane of I-5 will be closed in both directions from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night, Monday through Thursday between Samish Way and Guide Meridian. The work started Jan. 25 and will continue for the next few weeks. Cable median barrier reduces the potential for vehicles to cross the median and be involved in deadly head-on collisions. According to statewide statistics, 96.3 percent of vehicles that hit high-tension cable barriers are stopped from crossing the median. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $12 million in funding for retrofitting nearly 30 miles of cable median barrier on state highways and installing 662 miles of centerline rumble strips. More details:
SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge - Contractor Kiewit-General’s replacement and retrofit work on the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge is coming to a close. For the past several months, Kiewit-General has conducted daytime ballast testing that required frequent daytime openings of the bridge. The ballast testing was conducted the week of Jan. 25-29. With ballast testing in its final days, crews will check off punch-list items that will prepare the bridge for the final series of project-related tests. The nighttime work requires 90-minute traffic closures that will allow crews to work through a 93-page, 1,400-item functional testing checklist and review all systems on the west half of the bridge. Functional testing closures occur intermittently from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday. The tests, which are part of Kiewit-General’s contract, are scheduled to take at least three weeks to complete.
Following functional testing, WSDOT and Kiewit-General must complete 20 consecutive error-free openings to meet operational standards that demonstrate the reliability of the east and west draw spans. These intermittent 90-minute draw span tests take place from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday and are expected to take several days to complete. All openings, maritime included, are included in the 20-cycle count.
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Announcements
Long-term ramp closures at Longview Wye begin Monday, Feb. 1
WSDOT’s contractor on the I-5, SR 432 Talley Way Interchange project started construction on Jan. 25, and they aren’t wasting any time digging into the tough work at the Longview Wye. Northwest Construction crews will completely close two ramps connecting I-5 southbound and SR 432 starting Monday, Feb. 1 to begin constructing temporary ramps along the interstate.
A permanent closure of the I-5 southbound loop ramp to SR 432 eastbound and long-term closure of the SR 432 westbound loop ramp to I-5 southbound will begin at 9 p.m. Feb. 1. The westbound loop ramp to I-5 southbound will reopen when interchange reconstruction is complete in approximately two years. Drivers have nearby options to enter or exit I-5 southbound, including Talley Way and the Old Highway 99. Alternate routes will be signed and available throughout construction.
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February meetings
9, Tuesday, 5 - 7 p.m., Citizen Advisory Committee meeting, Tacoma Narrows Bridge - Gig Harbor: The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Citizen Advisory Committee will meet to discuss the State Transportation Commission's rate proposal. Location: Gig Harbor Civic Center, 3510 Grandview St., Gig Harbor.
Express Lane Archive
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