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The opening last year of the long-awaited Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People, followed four years of careful design, planning, tight deadlines and close cooperation with several state and local agencies. Kiewit Infrastructure West, a division of Omaha, Neb.-based Kiewit Infrastructure, one of the nation’s oldest construction companies, handled the construction of an elegant structure in an environmentally sensitive area to produce what is now a Portland landmark.

鈥淲e had six months from the notice of award of the contract to install the foundations for the two support towers,鈥� Kiewit project manager Ralph Salamie said. 鈥淲e had four months to complete that within the 鈥榝ish window’ to allow for the annual salmon migration. We finished it, including the coffer dams, right on schedule. I think that was really the most difficult part of the project.鈥�

Spanning the Willamette River from the South Waterfront District to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the 1,720-foot-long cable-stayed bridge accommodates light rail trains, buses, pedestrians and bicyclists with no provision for automobiles or trucks. The design created a strong but very flexible structure with excellent seismic integrity.

鈥淲e met or exceeded all the seismic criteria for the project,鈥� Salamie said. 鈥淚f a big quake hits and you’re on a bridge, you’ll want to be on ours.鈥�

T.Y. Lin International served as the designer of record for the bridge. The construction process required casting 78 sections with each finished section subjected to close scrutiny. Casting on-site allowed for greater precision in constructing each segment and made the process more efficient.

In addition to T.Y. Lin setting high standards to ensure project excellence, Kiewit also contributes the success of Tilikum Crossing to TriMet‘s approach to the project, according to Salamie.

鈥淭hey got the public involved,鈥� he said. 鈥淏y using a 鈥榩roject first’ approach, we were able to focus on prioritizing ways to keep the project moving forward. We worked hard to find innovations 鈥� post-tensioning, piers, foundations 鈥� and in the end TriMet got exactly what they wanted. It’s a really beautiful bridge.鈥�

Salamie said Kiewit sees the Tilikum Crossing’s dedication to serving alternative modes of transportation as offering a model that other cities can emulate.

鈥淲e see light rail as a growing market,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s mass transit grows, you’ll see us there. We’ll go where the work is.鈥�