From floating bridges to bridges towering high over the Columbia River and from possible new NBA arenas to possible vitrification facilities for radioactive material, the stories that I expect to dominate 2013 are varied. But they aren’t all entirely new, either. The number of mega projects now underway from Oregon north to Alaska does focus primarily in Washington, but that doesn’t leave out any of the regions I watch. Here’s a rundown of what you can expect to see news about in this blog in 2013:
Will the new floating bridge float (of course, but how choppy will it be)?
As crews bring new pieces of Seattle’s SR 520 floating bridge—the world’s longest—to Lake Washington to start piecing it together, how will construction transpire? Already the mega-project has faced some uncertainty with a bit of a tough run on the initial concrete makeup of the pontoons, but the state says those problems are fixed.
Will the SR 99 tunnel start off with ease?
The other Seattle-area mega-project is the digging of the world’s widest deep-bore tunnel for SR 99 under downtown Seattle. As crews stage the start of the boring, we know that tunnel projects have a tendency to throw curveballs toward contractors; so watching how this project starts may be a key indicator to how it will finish.
Can Bechtel get the Hanford vit plant on track?
To be fair, creating the world’s first-ever plant to turn radioactive waste into glass for safe long-term storage while working with a constantly changing set of information about said radioactive waste isn’t a simple project. And it hasn’t been. As the project continues to balloon in cost (over $12 billion now) and with an ever-shifting timeframe, let’s see if the next big news out of Hanford is good.
Did we get a final height on the Columbia River Crossing?
The proposed bridge to span the Columbia River, connecting Portland to Vancouver, Wash., via Interstate 5 hit a roadblock last year with a less-than-choice bridge height. But with new heights likely set, will this project move forward—and gain funding—in 2013?
Can we expect more stadiums in Seattle?
Already crews are working on and moving toward finishing a complete overhaul of Husky Stadium in Seattle on the campus of the University of Washington. I’ll keep an eye on that, but we may soon have a new NBA arenain downtown Seattle to watch too.
What is next for the Port of Anchorage project?
The now “technically flawed” interlocking steel plate design of a new expansion will cost millions to fix, likely resulting in a complete removal of the project’s components. What will the final outcome of this project really be?
Can a solution for US 20 in Oregon be found?
As chronicled last week, the fate for the landslide-prone US 20 project remains up in the air.
Will the Port Mann Bridge be more widely accepted in Vancouver, B.C.?
Eight of the 10 lanes of the Port Mann Bridge have opened outside of Vancouver, B.C., and some early troubles with falling ice and overly slick bridge decks have caused some problems early on. How will the bridge fare as construction continues to add the final two lanes and preparation starts on dismantling the old bridge?
Those are some of the projects that I’ll follow in 2013, but not all. What are the other major projects coming down the line I should keep track of?
Tim Newcomb is Engineering News-Record’s Pacific Northwest contributor. He has also written for TIME, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and more. You can follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb or visit his website here.
