W & H wins National Award

Tacoma - The National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) is honoring W&H Pacific and the City of Bend with an Award of Merit (2nd place) for the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge in Bend.

The Prize Bridge Awards honor significant and innovative steel bridges constructed within the United States.

The Bill Healy Memorial Bridge, also known as the Southern River Crossing, is a 480-foot long steel plate girder bridge crossing the Deschutes River. The bridge was designed to look rustic, is curved to match the alignment of the old logging road and blends into its beautiful canyon setting.

In addition to the bridge, the overall project included over a mile of arterial roadway with unique features such as raised bike lanes, viewing platforms and four modern roundabouts to safely handle traffic.

This is the second award given to the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge. The project received an Engineering Excellence Grand Award in 2004 from ACEC Oregon.

Hedreen to Begin Condos

Seattle - R.C. Hedreen Company has been given final design approval on its newest venture, Olive 8, a 36-story condominiums-over-hotel project. Hedreen now expects to be issued its master use permit, which will allow construction to begin on schedule.

Olive 8 is being co-designed by local architecture firm MulvannyG2 and New York architect Richard Gluckman. Among several unique design elements, the building features a fritted glass "skin" with blue glass fin elements that create dimension, movement and a constantlychanging appearance. Skanska Building USA is the general contractor.

Bellevue Highway Ramps Honored

The freeway ramps on N.E. 4th Street in Bellevue, Wash., won the award as the Best Bridge with a Span Less Than 65 Feet in the 2005 Design Awards competition sponsored by the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI). The precast concrete design improved access to the downtown core by replacing two major overpasses while minimizing construction impact with a fast-track construction process.

The precast concrete components were used for the BL and CL ramps, a complex configuration of ramps and tunnels providing improved freeway access to the local area. Designers value-engineered the original plan from cast-in-place concrete supported on straddle bents to a precast alternative because of precast's ability to eliminate falsework and framing towers and to speed the schedule.

Precast, prestressed concrete flat girders were designed with no separate deck forms, shortening construction time for the substructure by almost 40 percent. The ramps consisted of 132 prestressed concrete panels with a depth of 11 inches and a width of from 5.42 ft. to 5.75 ft. The panels then were covered with a composite cast-in-place concrete deck.

The ramps were designed by KPFF Consulting Engineers in Seattle, with Guy F. Atkinson Construction LLC in Renton, Wash., serving as general contractor. The precast concrete components were engineered by Shearer Design in Seattle, and they were produced by Concrete Technology Corp. in Tacoma, Wash.

Alcyone Now LEED Certified

Seattle - Characterized by its numerous sustainable design elements and urban living amenities, Alcyone now represents Seattle's first market-rate, multi-family building to receive LEED certification.

Developed by Harbor Properties Inc. and Vulcan Inc., Alcyone was designed and constructed from the ground up using sustainable development approaches.