Prequal list for Seattle deep bore

All four JVs have been pre-qualified from those seeking to bid for the deep, single bore tunnel to be built at the waterfront in Seattle on the SR99 highway route.

The design-build JVs that have been pre-qualified to build the tunnel, the route of which has been modified, are:

• WV JV – Kiewit Pacific, Bilfinger Berger and AECOM;

• Seattle Tunnel Partners – Dragados and HNTB Corp;

• Seattle Tunnelling Group – S.A. Healy, FCC Construccion, Parsons Transportation Group and Halcrow;

• VTS JV – Vinci Construction Grand Projets, Traylor Bros, Skanska and Arup.

The approx. 3.2km long tunnel is being designed to be excavated by a single, approx. 54ft (16.45m) TBM, which would be the largest built.

The pre-qualification list was announced last month by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The project is being funded by the state, county, city and the port authority.

A Request for Proposals is to be issued by the second quarter and bids for the contract are to be submitted by about the beginning of Q4. Contract award is anticipated by the end of 2010.

A second, supplemental draft environmental impact statement (EIS) into the bored tunnel project, announced at the beginning of 2009, is to be published this year.

The tunnel is being built to replace a seismically-damaged highway viaduct running along the waterfront area. A number of scenarios were studied, including replacement surface and various tunnel options, before the single large bore was elected extremely late in the process.

Recent consultations with local communities and businesses have also led to a change in location in the south portal and a possible shift in the position of the north portal. The alignment of the tunnel has been altered as a result of the modifications, and new site investigations are underway along the revised route.