By Lucy Bodilly
The Washington State Dept. of Transportation has qualified four design-build teams that will vie for a $1-billion contract to construct a deep-bore tunnel replacing the seismically unsound Alaskan Way viaduct in Seattle. The winner will begin work on the four-lane, 2-mile-long double-decker tunnel on state Route 99 after the award in late 2010.
Photo: WSDOT
WSDOT announced the qualified joint-venture teams: Seattle Tunnel Partners, which includes Dragados USA Inc., Coral Gables, Fla., and HNTB Corp., Kansas City, Mo.; Seattle Tunneling Group, which includes S.A. Healy Co., Lombard, Ill., FCC Construction S.A., Madrid, Parsons Transportation Group Inc., Washington, D.C., and Halcrow Inc., New York City; VTS Joint Venture, which includes Paris-based Vinci Construction, Traylor Bros. Inc., Evansville, Ind., Skanska USA, New York City, and London-based Arup; and AWV Joint Venture, which includes Kiewit Pacific Co., Vancouver, Wash., Germany’s Bilfinger Berger and AECOM Technology Corp., New York City.
The winning team will be required to build a 55-ft wide, 9,000-lin ft tunnel using an Earth Pressure Balance tunnel-boring machine.
The RFP will detail the firms’ plans for completing the five-year project, including the proposed bored tunnel’s design, constructing the tunnel boring machine and building the tunnel, including the interior roadway, tunnel systems, ventilation buildings and portal connections.
Under the design-build contract, the contractor will control the machine specifications. “They have to take into account our very abrasive soils, the production speeds and maintenance requirements,” says Linea Laird, director of Central and North Projects for the replacement program. “We will include some performance criteria.”
WSDOT is giving a $2 million stipend to each team to develop its proposal, except the winner, says Ron Paananen, DOT administrator, Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program.
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