By DAVID A. LIEB

The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – America’s roads are a lot less congested, due to coronavirus shutdowns that have kept millions of commuters, shoppers and vacationers parked at their homes.

While that makes it easier to patch potholes, it also could spell trouble for road and bridge projects. The longer motorists remain off the roads, the harder it will be for states to afford repairs in the months and years ahead.

Reduced traffic volumes are expected to cause a sharp drop in state revenue from fuel taxes, tolls and other user fees that could force delays for thousands of projects nationwide unless the federal government intervenes.

“This is a critical need at the national level,” said Patrick McKenna, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and director of Missouri’s transportation department.

Leaders of state transportation agencies have asked Congress for an immediate $50 billion to prevent major cuts to road and bridge projects over the next year and a half. As an economic stimulus, they also want Congress to authorize a long-term plan that doubles the amount of regular funding going to state transportation agencies.

The request comes as a majority of Americans are under government orders to remain home to try to slow the spread of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. For many people, the virus causes mild to moderate symptoms such as a fever or cough. But for some, especially older adults and those with existing health problems, it can lead to more severe illnesses and death.

A $2 trillion federal stimulus package enacted last month included billions of dollars for public transit systems, publicly owned commercial airports and Amtrak passenger train service – all of which have seen sharp declines in customers as a result of the coronavirus. But it earmarked nothing for state highways and bridges.

Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic House leaders have expressed support for a big infrastructure spending plan as part of another economic stimulus bill. But similar pronouncements in previous years have failed to produce results.

In the meantime, some road and bridge projects already have been put on hold.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has slashed its expected construction projects from 131 down to 38 for the upcoming budget year, a $2 billion reduction.

Ohio has delayed projects until next year on interstate highways in Columbus and Cincinnati because of the expected decline in fuel tax revenue.

Faced with a budget shortfall, Missouri has postponed $46 million for 18 road and bridge projects that had been priorities for local governments. As many as 299 additional projects valued at $785 million could be at risk without federal help, McKenna said.

Among the immediate deferments: a new highway interchange to provide direct access to the expanded Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains. The center’s hospital, physician and specialty clinics are among the area’s largest employers, serving about 40,000 patients in eight rural counties of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.

The state had allotted more than $1.2 million to cover half the road construction costs. The other half was to come from local transportation sales tax revenue, which also is down.

“We were hoping to bid it out for construction very soon, but then COVID-19 and all that, so that timeline is kind of in the air,” said West Plains Administrator Tom Stehn, a former state highway engineer. “It was a high priority for us.”

Though ambulances are running as usual and detours are well-marked for visitors, “obviously that direct interchange would be nice,” said Daniel Marshall, chief clinical officer for the South Howell County Ambulance District.

In Oregon, the city of Bend – the nation’s seventh-fastest growing metropolitan area over the past decade – pulled a $190 million transportation bond off the May ballot. Supporters had concerns about pushing a property tax hike for roads, sidewalks and bike lanes while local businesses are suffering financially and many residents are without work.

“They’re going to show up on voters’ day and just glance and think, ‘I’m not raising my taxes right now; no way!’” said Mike Riley, co-chairman of the Go Bend 2020 Coalition that supported the measure. “We’re going to come back to voters, but now just felt like the wrong time.”

Most states have classified road construction as essential work that can continue despite orders shutting down certain businesses. But some states have not.

Washington, site of the first coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., suspended work on 92 of its 100 active highway projects as a result of a stay-at-home order for most workers. The halted projects include major ones in Seattle and Spokane, as well as improvements to an Interstate 90 pass through an avalanche-prone area of the Cascade Mountains.

Vermont’s entire $200 million road construction plan for 2020 is on hold, save for a $6 million emergency repair where a storm washed out part of the foundation on Interstate 89.

The longer the delay, the greater the likelihood that some projects might not get finished this year.

“Every project is sort of at risk of running out of quality weather days to complete the work,” said Jeremy Reed, construction engineer for the state’s transportation agency.

Pennsylvania originally halted all road construction work. But it has since allowed work to proceed on 61 critical projects. About 800 road and bridge projects, at $7 billion, remain on hold.

By contrast, some states have taken advantage of a lull in traffic to speed up transportation projects. Construction crews have been able to shut down highway lanes during prime hours without causing major traffic backups.

Florida announced that it is accelerating work schedules by several weeks on about $2 billion worth of bridge and road projects.

In Maryland, a westbound lane of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis recently reopened to vehicles following repairs. The $27 million project was completed well ahead of schedule, partly because of light traffic amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The declining traffic volumes have been especially large in some of the nation’s most famously congested metropolitan areas, such as the San Francisco Bay Area.

Business leaders in the region had hoped to put a 1 cent sales tax on the November ballot that could raise $100 billion over 40 years for public transit and transportation projects in a nine-county region. But the coronavirus outbreak interrupted work on state legislation needed to place the measure on the ballot.

It now could be 2022, or even 2024, before supporters can make another push for a public vote on the measure, said John Grubb, chief operating officer of the Bay Area Council, a business-backed policy advocacy group.

“If we’re in a poor economy, which it looks like we’re going to be in, that would have been an awful lot of stimulus and an awful lot of job creation,” he said.

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The Oregon Department of Transportation last month began repaving a 12.4-mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Woodburn and Salem.

By BEN BOTKIN
Salem Statesman Journal

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The 2017 Oregon Legislature pumped $5.3 billion into the state’s highway system over the next decade — the largest transportation package in decades.

Today, 15 projects are under construction, funded by the legislation that created Keep Oregon Moving.
About 80 other projects are in different stages of planning, such as design work and obtaining rights of way, according to agency data examined by the Statesman Journal.

And even more projects will unfold as the funding legislation generates revenue in the years ahead.
By some measures, the Oregon Department of Transportation is doing well.

Roadwork and behind the scenes design have started on a handful of projects, including repaving I-5 from Salem to Woodburn. Other projects include upgrading or replacing bridges, fortifying highways against the threat of earthquakes and enhancing interchanges to reduce congestion.

And the agency is posting transparency metrics on a website so taxpayers can track the contracts in real time.

But advocates and agency officials alike warn it’s not nearly enough.

Oregon’s transportation system faces long-term challenges not included in the 2017 legislation.

More state bridges will need upgrades in the coming years. And rural roads continue to be a high-need area, especially for legislators representing districts outside Oregon’s urban areas.

The plan passed in 2017 had a fourfold aim: Preserving the existing system of roads and bridges; reducing congestion, particularly in the Portland-metro area; increasing transportation choices, such as mass transit and bicycle paths; and public accountability and transparency.

Here’s a look at what the plan has done so far, what’s ahead and what the state’s needs are.

Unmet bridge needs

Oregon’s infrastructure needs are highlighted on an industry report card released this month by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Despite Oregon’s planned investment in infrastructure, the state still received an overall grade of C-, a mediocre outcome that reflects the state’s long-term and unfunded needs in critical areas like bridges, roads, levees and wastewater.

The needs are heightened by an awareness that Oregon faces a 20% chance of a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which puts older bridges at risk.

To put it in context, nearly 20% of Oregon’s 8,161 bridges and culverts are at risk of becoming structurally deficient in the near future, the report found. Bridge maintenance needs are expected to grow and require nearly three times the funding from House Bill 2017.

State transportation officials say Oregon needs to stay vigilant about the state’s needs, despite the benefits from HB2017.

“It truly is a race that probably doesn’t have a finish line,” ODOT Director Matt Garrett said at recent press event with the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Accountability measures

Oregonians are already starting to pay for the transportation improvements. A 10-cent gasoline tax is unfolding in four stages. It started with a 4-cent increase in 2018.

Three more 2-cent increases are slated for 2020, 2022 and 2024, provided the state meets accountability measures set by the law. Those include reporting information transparently to the public about project details, costs and schedules.

That work has already started, even though work on most of the road projects hasn’t started yet. The state launched its transparency, accountability and performance website in January, which is required by the state law.

“The public, media and stakeholders now have access for the first time ever to condition data on bridges and pavement in every single city and county in the state as well as for the state highway system,” said Travis Brouwer, assistant director of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

While each piece runs on a slightly different schedule, in a way, it’s all part of a broader plan, state officials said.

“We have taken this very seriously and really treated it like a transportation highway project in terms of having a project plan and deliverables and due dates,” Brouwer said.

Dollars can change

The public also can see if a project has come in below or above its budget.

That could easily become a factor with the planned Center Street bridge between west Salem and downtown, which may cost about $100 million for seismic upgrades instead of the $40 million lawmakers budgeted in 2017.

“If one project comes in under budget, we can ship that money to another project in the region,” Brouwer said.

At this point, there aren’t any major delays anticipated, state officials said.

That can change, if the state’s past performance is any indication. Data from state transportation projects in 2018 show about 80 percent of nearly 100 projects were completed on time.

The bridge construction could start in 2024 and other projects are spaced out even further into the future.

Interstate 5 paving

Elsewhere, there are visible signs of work.

Road crews began work last month on a 12.4-mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Woodburn and Salem.
The interstate has ruts in vehicle wheel paths that put motorists at a risk of hydroplaning in rainy weather, transportation officials say.

Paving began northbound from Brooks to Woodburn.

Nightly lane closures are expected between Sunday evenings and Friday mornings. One lane can be closed between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. A second lane can be shut down between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., giving motorists delays of up to 30 minutes.

During the lane closures, motorists can still travel north and south.

Work on the $17 million project is expected to last through October.

Upcoming Salem-area projects

Most of the work is on the horizon, including in the Salem area.

For example, design work starts this year for a project that will widen Interstate 5 between Keubler Boulevard in south Salem and the Delaney Road interchange to relieve congestion on the southbound side.

Construction work is due to start in 2021 on the $35.4 million project and includes replacing a bridge over the Commercial Street northbound off-ramp and reconstruction of the southbound Commercial Street on-ramp and thee southbound Delaney Road ramps to get on and off the interstate.

In 2020, construction will start on a nearly $9 million project that adds sidewalks and bicycle lanes on Oregon 214 in Silverton between Smith Street and Pioneer Drive.

Small-scale projects are in the pipeline too. Pedestrian safety improvements are planned at the intersection of Oregon 214 and Jefferson Street in Silverton.

The $750,000 project will have a pedestrian island, flashing beacon and lights. It’s expected to go out for a bid late this year, with construction in 2020.

The post Oregon transportation needs to continue to grow appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Multnomah County is asking for public input on updates to its 20-year plan for road improvements. Comments can be shared online through April 15 at .

Multnomah County is responsible for more than 300 miles of roads in unincorporated areas and major arterial roads in Fairview, Troutdale and Wood Village. The Roads Capital Improvement Plan will see its biggest overhaul in two decades as a result of this public input.

Periodically, the county updates the plan to address issues tied to crosswalks and traffic signals, guardrails, shoulder widths, turn lanes, bicycle and walking paths, bridge and culvert improvements and more. This year, officials are engaged in a data gathering and public involvement effort more in depth than in the past.

For more information, contact Jessica Berry via email at road_cipp@multco.us or visit .

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Knife River Corp. President Brian Gray has been distracted at work lately. Instead of worrying about logistics for the Portland office of one of the West’s largest heavy civil contractors and aggregate suppliers, Gray worries about the men and women working on every project.

“I don’t sleep very well at this point,” he said.

Despite all the government and industry has done to improve worker safety on road projects, much work remains, Gray said.

Oregon averages six deaths in highway work zones per year. 2017 is tracking average, but the three deaths so far all came in a recent one-month period – and all were workers.

The second death, Ronald Ernest Davis, 57, was such a devastating blow to his employer, Knife River, the road builder paused that project for three weeks so it could investigate its methods and give staff time to recover. Some of those workers have yet to return.

States neighboring Oregon and others where Knife River does business have tougher work zone protections for workers, Gray said. Since the crash that killed Davis and injured a co-worker, Gray’s been working with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Oregon State Patrol (OSP) to get more drivers to pay attention and proceed slower through work zones.

Highway work zones are unsafe by their very nature. Drivers are forced to maneuver through an irregular and unfamiliar array of barrels, lights and signs, as well as the construction workers whose lives are very much in their hands.

Though Knife River, one of the largest heavy civil contractors and aggregate producers in the West, has lost employees before, Davis’ death was especially shocking. The Powell Butte man was a project manager, and very well-liked, Gray said. He had been with Knife River one month shy of 25 years.

“He was at the top of his game, frankly,” Gray said. “He was very safety-conscious, he was very experienced, and was excited to be over here.”

Early on the morning of June 6, Davis and a co-worker, Antonio “Tony” Manuel Bahena, 20, were in a Ford F-250 truck preparing to open the middle northbound lane to traffic when the driver of a box truck approached at high speed, apparently ignoring signs to slow and subsequently slamming into the back of the pickup, according to accident reports by Oregon State Patrol.

The suspected driver, Colin Michael Cook, was booked three days later in Marion County Jail on suspicion of charges including second-degree assault and hit-and-run. As of Monday, Cook, 27, remained in custody with a court date set for Aug. 8.

Bahena is still at home recovering from a serious concussion and other injuries.

“This is why I pray every day for the safety of my husband, our friends/his coworkers at ODOT,” one Facebook commenter replied under a post by ODOT Director Matt Garrett expressing condolences.

The construction industry prioritizes safety as a bottom-line issue, as well as a moral one. The two biggest causes of work zone accidents are considered to be speed and distractions, and firms like Knife River for years have railed against such actions. OSP and ODOT dedicate millions of dollars each year to awareness campaigns and extra patrols to get drivers’ attention.

ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson typically tracks the number of articles elicited by ODOT awareness campaigns. This year’s awareness month – May – got a huge response from media. A – held each year in mid-April – was also deemed a success this year.

As a government worker employed to inform the public, Thompson admits knowing the three deaths came following a widely-viewed awareness campaign made him “feel like a failure.”

ODOT expects between 150 and 200 road construction projects to take place this summer, from drainage work on culverts and bridges to re-pavings, like the project Davis was working on when he died.

Three bills related to highway worker safety were introduced this year in the Oregon Legislature, and two passed. House Bill 2721 increases penalties for physically assaulting a highway worker. HB 2597 addresses distracted driving, targeting people caught using a cellphone or other electronic device behind the wheel.

Rep. Susan McLain, D-Hillsboro, plans to convene an informal work group before next session to examine safer work zone ideas, according to her office.

Amber-colored lights are commonly used by road builders to communicate to drivers. Gray says drivers have become “numb” to these, so they’re no longer effective at commanding attention. People just pay a lot more attention to the red and blue lights of emergency vehicles, he said.

States that neighbor Oregon allow tow trucks and other emergency vehicles to use red and blue lights, but the practice is not allowed here.

With the possibility of death so close at hand for highway crews, many employers prioritize training to ensure workers are on high alert at all times.

Reynelda Hayes, owner of All About Flagging, makes her employees sign a policy agreeing to stay focused. Aside from the human cost of work zone accidents, insurance in her field is already sky-high.

“You have to be alert at all times, because it only takes a second,” she said.

Hayes said she doesn’t like to think of projects as being more or less dangerous than one another.

“Any project can be a dangerous project if you’re on your phone or smoking a cigarette,” she said.

Gray has been working with ODOT and OSP to devise new safety procedures. It’s tough though, he said, because there were already lots of good precautions in place.

Ideally, “positive barriers” would separate the work zone from travel lanes, because concrete is far more effective than plastic cones at stopping impaired drivers and swiftly-moving tons of metal.

For the duration of Knife River’s Woodburn-to-Wilsonville project, OSP troopers will be stationed at the beginning of each work area to get people’s attention.

But overtime for troopers is a costly line item in the state budget, and OSP already is operating with fewer troopers than ever before. In other states that Knife River does business, law enforcement officers are stationed full-time at every city, county and private road construction project.
“And in Oregon, it’s a luxury if we get one enforcement officer out there,” Gray said.

A lot of times, officers will be there for only a few hours before they have to leave. On the night, Davis and Bahena were struck, no law enforcement officers were working.

Under the current highway funding mechanism, law enforcement officers aren’t considered part of a highway “work zone.” Plus, only overtime may be used, and a limited number of overtime hours are available. Troopers must volunteer for the assignment after working a full shift, and that isn’t always appealing. OSP has already complained of not having enough personnel. Resolving the issue will likely require a legislative fix.

But ultimately, Gray said, the drivers must act responsibly.

“Most of these accidents could be prevented if people would just pay attention,” he said.

The post Contractors at a crossroads appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Update: The electrical work planned for the Sellwood Bridge on Thursday has been postponed until Thursday, Jan. 26 due to winter weather conditions.

…

If your morning commute includes the Sellwood Bridge, you might want to plan for a detour on Thursday.

Electrical work on the Sellwood Bridge will require a single lane to be closed at times on Thursday, Jan. 19 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m, according to a press release from Multnomah County.

Flaggers will direct traffic in both directions around the closed section of the westbound lane and drivers could experience delays of up to 15 minutes. The bridge sidewalk will remain open.

Multnomah County officials recommend using the Ross Island or Hawthorne bridges.

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Officials have discussed for decades how to ease congestion along the “Sunrise Corridor,” but no action has taken place. Now, design work is under way, and some people are wondering whether the latest plan will be realized.

If you go

What: Open house for the Sunrise Jobs and Transportation Act project

When: Tuesday, Nov. 8, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Where: Clackamas Banquet and Catering Center (adjacent to Denny’s), at 15815 S.E. 82nd Drive

The Oregon Department of Transportation in the early 1990s initiated an effort to reconfigure the corridor – the area between Interstate 205 at Oregon Route 212/224 and U.S. Route 26. But the proposed six-lane highway project never came close to entering the construction phase. Most of the $1.4 billion effort remains unfunded, but ODOT and Clackamas County finally secured money, via the 2009 Jobs and Transportation Act, to build the first piece.

“The most common question we are receiving is: ‘Are you actually doing something?’ ” said Elizabeth Craig, ODOT community affairs coordinator. “People have been hearing about it and dealing with ongoing issues with congestion and safety for decades now.”

The Sunrise Corridor has generated complaints since the 1980s. ODOT and Clackamas County worked for years to develop plans for a new major highway, plus auxiliary lanes and local roadway improvements. The so-called “Sunrise Preferred Alternative,” which established a route and environmental impact statement, won federal approval in December 2010, but no money came along with the rubber stamp.

“This is really part of the realities of Oregon’s financial picture – there just isn’t money in ODOT or the state budget to take on major construction projects,” said Don Hamilton, an ODOT spokesman. “It’s not unusual to accomplish just what you can under the financial realities of the day.”

Design work is under way for the first part of the Sunrise Preferred Alternative, and construction is set to begin in 2013. But for years, traffic conditions have stirred up resentment from companies with major industrial and distribution operations in the area.

“Something needed to be done – the situation was becoming critical,” said Melinda Merrill, spokeswoman for Fred Meyer, which has a major distribution center on Route 212. “Just getting onto I-205 can take 15 minutes. We’re building overtime and extra fuel into our budget because we have truck drivers sitting their idling.”

Transportation officials also recognized the need for a smaller plan that could alleviate some of the existing congestion soon.

“That area has a lot of opportunities for development and expansion, but the system out there right now cannot handle any increase in capacity,” Craig said. “Every minute a truck is stuck in traffic is lost revenue for a business, so one of the big drivers of this project is to help businesses stay in the area and come to the area.”

Clackamas County is using money from the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program to add a third westbound lane on Route 212/224, provide additional right-turn lanes between Route 212/224 and I-205, and construct a path for bicyclists and pedestrians in the Sunrise project area. That work is expected to be done by the end of the year.

The fate of the full Sunrise Preferred Alternative remains uncertain, and largely depends upon the availability of funding.

Hamilton said that ODOT officials are “closely watching” the national conversation on infrastructure spending, which could affect the agency’s project planning if a stream of federal funding was to come through.

“The president said he has transportation improvements in mind, but we haven’t made any decisions about whether any stimulus money coming our way would impact the Sunrise project,” Hamilton said. “We don’t have a lack of projects calling for our attention.”

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The open house organizers in Washington County must be busy this week. The county’s holding an open house for the Southwest Scholls Ferry Road bridge replacement in Beaverton this evening, and tomorrow it will hold another open house for the bigger Northwest Bethany Boulevard overpass project.

Washington County has decided that Northwest Bethany Boulevard and its overpass over U.S. Route 26 will have to be widened to accommodate heavier traffic in the future.

The project is in the design and development stage right now, but the basic idea is to widen the road from four lanes to six on and around the U.S. Route 26 overpass. Bike lanes and sidewalks are also planned, as well as a multi-use path that would connect bike and pedestrian trails.

The project is planned to cost $10 million and is funded by Washington County property taxes.

So if you have questions or concerns, head to the open house.

When: Thursday, Sept. 22, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Where: Phoenix Inn, 15402 N.W. Cornell Road, Beaverton

For more information, visit the , or contact Washington County project manager Matthew Costigan at 503-846-7800 or matthew_costigan@co.washington.or.us.

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The Oregon Department of Transportation announced yesterday that starting at 3 p.m. today, the historic Columbia River highway over the Sandy River will be closed on the count of witches and werewolves. The new NBC series , based off of the classic fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, will be shooting at that location for 12 hours today.

The crew of the production yesterday set up lights along the trusses if the bridge, known as the Troutdale Bridge. The goblins and ghouls will make their way over to Multnomah Falls on Monday.

The series follows a detective who starts seeing monsters and vows to protect people from therm. Hopefully, weather or other delays won’t force the fairy tale monsters to possess the bridge longer than expected.

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Reconstruction of Southwest Moody Avenue is creating a bump in the road … intentionally.

By this fall, work will be substantially completed. When it’s done, the road will be higher in the middle and have an at-grade crossing with light-rail tracks as they approach a new transit bridge nearby. The road also will include three traffic lanes and bike and pedestrian facilities.

A 1,500-foot-long section of Moody Avenue is being elevated to 15 feet in the middle and then sloped so that each end is at its present height. The road is being framed between walls, which will be filled with 30,000 cubic yards of a lightweight concrete material. Also, that under-road area will be filled with 150,000 feet of conduit.

“It’s about a $30 million project, and $7 million of that is being spent on electrical,” Stacy and Witbeck Project Manager Bill Bruce said.

The road will have two streetcar tracks and a crossing with light rail, and both have intensive utility needs. Moody Avenue also is the main utility line to the South Waterfront District and the new OHSU Schnitzer campus, so the amount of wires, vaults and foundations that need to be installed is double the amount needed for a typical street project, Bruce said.

Usually, utilities are installed by excavating through existing ground, but because Moody Avenue is being built up, crews are installing utility infrastructure as they pour the road itself.

The “fill” beneath the road is a product called low-density cellular concrete: a mixture of concrete, water and foam poured like a liquid through hoses. When it solidifies, the material is strong enough to hold up the street, but is one-fifth the weight of normal concrete.

Low-density cellular concrete is typically used in projects where there is concern about a surface or fill settling under the weight of a project. It has been used for highway on- and off-ramps and to fill abandoned underground tunnels, but not as the base for a new road, Bruce said. It’s ideal for the situation, he added, because it’s lightweight and less expensive than alternatives such as foam blocks or pumice stone.

Crews will finish pouring fill and layering in the underground utilities in the next two weeks, Bruce said.

“As fill gets completed, it will turn into a normal street project,” Bruce said.

Bruce expects that the road will be open on Oct. 31. But finishes, such as planting new trees along the road, will still be needed.

The swift-moving project is being funded by the federal stimulus money and TIGER grants, which impose a strict schedule. Construction also is taking place directly in the way of a busy traffic lane.

“It is a fairly disruptive project when it comes to South Waterfront,” Bruce said. “South Waterfront is traditionally a hard place to get to, and the longer this project goes on, the more prolonged that aspect is.”

To ensure the project schedule is maintained, crews have occasionally worked double shifts and an average of six days a week, Bruce said. When the project is finished, 50 different subcontractors will have logged 125,000 man-hours.

In addition, the landscape of the entrance to the South Waterfront is rising by a few feet, so that underground parking can be added without digging into contaminated soil.

Dan Anderson, a spokesman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said the extent of changes coming to the area is “hard to communicate.” The corridor, including main entrances for buildings, will rise 14 feet by the end of the project. The road also will line up with the new Gibbs Street pedestrian bridge over Interstate 5.

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Crews from Farrow Concrete place about 660 cubic yards of concrete to form the first of 17 base slabs in the Washington State Route 520 Pontoon Construction Project casting basin. Local contractor Bayview Redi-Mix provided the mix for the July 8 pour. (Photo courtesy of via Flickr)

Crews in Aberdeen, Wash., on Friday completed part of a $4.65 billion project to revamp part of State Route 520, which includes replacement of a floating bridge over Lake Washington.

The crews made the first concrete pour for a casting basin facility, which will eventually make 33 pontoons for the new bridge. The pontoons – sort of like really big, floating docks – are being made to support the new bridge. They’ll replace the current pontoons, if needed, in case the current ones are damaged in something like a big natural disaster. Some of the pontoons will be as tall as three-story buildings, as wide as two motor homes parked end to end, and as long as a football field. They’ll weigh as much as 11,000 tons each.

Pontoon construction is expected to start this summer and finish by mid 2014.

The casting basin facility  and the pontoons are themselves a $367 million project. The entire SR 520 project – which consists of a revamp of the highway from Seattle to Redmond, Wash. – will cost about $4.65 billion. Only about $2.62 billion of that has been received so far, according to the . WSDOT and contractor Kiewit-General began work in Aberdeen in February.

WSDOT has uploaded a ton of and has put up a project webcam, which you can see .

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