December 16 update

Today, the number of signatures has doubled since our petition was first shared with Governor Inslee. The petition was again shared with the Governor. The petition was sent for the first time to Joint Transportation Committee Members Senators Marko Liias, and Curtis King and Representatives Jake Fey and Andrew Barkis. We also shared the petition with the Seattle Yacht Club and Queen City Yacht Club, the closest neighbors.

We have received a request to present our work to the Medina City Council and are scheduled for their early January meeting.

To target a wider audience than the immediate neighborhood the following text explains the regional benefits of shifting from work bridges to barges.

Construction Time Savings - The petition indicates a possible 2-year savings in construction time. This results from not having to spend a year building a work bridge before construction begins and then tearing it out after. Simply move in the equipment and start construction. The north span can be constructed from barges with current water depths.  While the north span is being built, permits can be obtained to remove sediment and access the south span. Building from barges can save two years. This makes benefits from the project in the areas of transportation, transit, bicycle lane and water quality treatment available two years sooner.

Cost Savings of Over 200 million Dollars -  If barge transportation is available, precast parts too large for the road can be constructed at a Puget Sound area waterfront site. There is a major firm with this capability in Tacoma, Kenmore has a premix plant that may have this capability. Off-site casting not only saves money it improves quality and speed over what can be achieved by casting on the construction site. As an additional savings, if equal length spans are used, large parts can be of uniform size. Use of uniform size parts increases efficiency, economies of scale and saves dollars. Our group has estimated that allowing off site casting of uniform sized parts may save up to 100 million dollars. This approach was used by WSDOT in the recently constructed Manette Bridge in Bremerton.  Avoiding building a temporary, disposable work bridge may save an additional 100 million dollars.  Building from barges may save 200 million dollars. 

In closing today, thank you all for signing. Please continue sharing particularly with a wider audience than the immediate neighborhood. We are making progress in changing minds and improving the 520 construction process.