OLYMPIA — Deputy Director John Conrad told the Transportation Commission on Wednesday that the general contractor on the Hood Canal Bridge rehabilitation and replacement project wants to keep the job.
Kiewit-General Construction Co., which was awarded the $209 million contract in summer 2003, is rebuilding the floating bridge on site and began the graving yard in Port Angeles before the Department of Transportation shut it down Dec. 21.
Because Poulsbo-based Kiewit-General wants to continue, a new graving yard project site is needed and a change order is being negotiated, Conrad reported to commissioners during their monthly meeting Wednesday in Olympia.
The deadline a for new contract is mid-May, which is aggressive but necessary, Conrad said.
Hood Canal Bridge anchors could be built in Port Angeles, Conrad said, adding that digging to make the 3-million-pound concrete anchors used to secure the floating bridge would not be necessary.
It was digging the graving yard — an onshore dry dock — that led to the discovery of Klallam burials and artifacts that led to the shutdown.
Built in three sections?
The anchors possibly could be built in three sections and assembled on site, Conrad said.
That was done on the I-90 floating bridge project in the early 1990s he said.
The Port of Port Angeles in January offered 18 waterfront acres west of Boat Haven to the Department of Transportation as a site to build at least some of the anchors.
The site consists of 15 paved acres, and the $2 million batch plant subcontractor Fred Hill Materials Inc. built for the graving yard could provide the massive amounts of concrete required for the anchors.
They would then be barged to the Hood Canal Bridge site and sunk to eventually be connected to new east-half pontoons.
The Transportation Department will decide very quickly regarding building anchors in Port Angeles, Conrad said.
Contract sketches could be completed within 10 days, he said.
“We need some luck on this project, Conrad said.
