October 20, 2014

Atkinson team gets top score for $300M East Link project

Images from Sound Transit [enlarge]

The station at Overlake Hospital will have an elevated platform.

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East Main Street’s station will connect to the Bellevue Transit Center Station via a half-mile tunnel.

Atkinson Construction, in a joint venture with Stacy and Witbeck, is the front-runner to get the first big contract for the East Link light-rail extension.

(Editor's note: The spelling of Stacy and Witbeck has been corrected.)

Last week Sound Transit released the final rankings of the top three firms competing for the E335 GC/CM contract that could reach $300 million. The GC/CM will be able to self-perform 50 to 70 percent of the work.

SWI-Atkinson had a total score of 830.63. In second place was the joint venture of Kiewit-Hoffman, with a score of 744.53. The joint venture of Mortenson-Walsh was third, with a score of 736.61.

Scores were computed based on three elements: pricing, proposal and a live interview. Pricing includes the GC/CM fee and general conditions costs. SWI-Atkinson's price came in at $29.77 million; Kiewit-Hoffman was $34.24 million; and Mortenson-Walsh was $40.89 million.

Sound Transit is reviewing the results and could make a final selection this week. The winner would then negotiate a preconstruction contract that would go before the Sound Transit board at its Dec. 18 meeting.

The E335 contract will build four stations in the downtown Bellevue area, 1.8 miles of track and a large bridge over state Route 405.

The stations would be on East Main Street, across from the existing bus-only Bellevue Transit Center, at Overlake Hospital and in the Spring District.

A Sound Transit spokesman said the agency will issue a design-bid-build contract in the second half of 2015 for a half-mile tunnel between the East Main and Bellevue Transit Center stations. He said it will be built using the sequential excavation method, which was used for Beacon Hill Station.

(Editor's note: The type of contract has been changed. Sound Transit originally said it would be design-build.)

The E335 contract will install track, life-safety systems and controls in that tunnel.

The E335 GC/CM will work with Sound Transit and designers on value engineering and subcontract packaging during preconstruction. That effort will produce a maximum construction cost that will be presented in the first half of 2016 to the Sound Transit board. Initial estimates of the MACC are $250 million to $300 million.

Construction is scheduled to start in early 2017.

CH2M Hill and HJH have done preliminary work on the E335 contract. HJH is a joint venture of HNTB, Jacobs, and Hatch Mott MacDonald.

Bob Adams of Atkinson said the challenges of building the E335 contract are budget, schedule, safety, and satisfying stakeholders that include the city of Bellevue, WSDOT, Overlake Hospital, Meydenbauer Convention Center, King County Metro, Sound Transit, various utility companies and private businesses.

Adams said they formed the joint venture with Stacy and Witbeck over 10 years ago to pursue Sound Transit projects. If it wins, this will be the JV's first project. Separately, Atkinson built the South Everett Freeway Station and the downtown Bellevue Direct Access projects. Stacy and Witbeck is building 3.15 miles of track between downtown Seattle and the University of Washington for U Link.

Adams said the joint venture intends to bid on all of the East Link projects. It also has been short-listed for the $180 million N160 GC/CM contract, which will build 4,000 feet of elevated track, an elevated station and a four-level underground parking garage in the Northgate area. That Northgate Link extension contract is in the procurement stage, with live interviews scheduled this week.

When it is all done in 2023, the East Link extension will have 14 miles of light-rail track connecting the International District in Seattle to the Overlake area in Bellevue. The budget is $2.8 billion.