Whidbey Island Road Improvement Contract Let

Anacortes - WSDOT awarded G.G. Excavation Inc. of Anacortes the contract to improve safety along State Route 20 north of Oak Harbor, between Troxell Road and Cornet Bay Road. Crews have already started moving utilities away from the roadway to make room for this project.

Construction will start this spring and be completed by fall of this year. The $9.2 million project will help improve safety and relieve congestion for the 16,000 drivers that use SR 20 every day. The contractor will:

• Widen the existing lanes from 11 to 12 feet, and increase the width of the shoulders to eight feet,
• Close Old Cornet Bay Road and improve the Cornet Bay Road intersection,
• Build new turn lanes in multiple locations, including left turn lanes in both directions of SR 20 at the intersections of Deception Circle and Ducken Road,
• Install a bus pullout at the northeast corner of Ducken Road and SR 20,
• Build storm water treatment facilities to help improve water quality.

This project is part of a larger effort to improve safety along the SR 20 corridor on Whidbey Island between Coupeville and Deception Pass. It is one of seven projects and $34 million lined up for SR 20 between now and 2008.

This project, along with two others currently underway on Whidbey Island, will be completed by this fall.

David Evans Wins National Award

Spokane - David Evans and Associates, Inc., of Spokane, Wash., is a finalist in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 40th annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition for designing the rehabilitation of Spokane’s Monroe Street Bridge.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Monroe Street Bridge has served Spokane’s motorists since 1911. A 1998 study of the concrete arch bridge’s condition revealed severe deterioration in the superstructure, leading to a five-year, $18 million rehabilitation program.

David Evans and Associates worked with the city and citizens groups to develop a realistic design and construction approach that allowed the bridge to be successfully rehabilitated while maintaining its historic integrity. Innovative bridge deck materials that resist wear and cracking will ensure a long life for this local landmark.

Weyerhaeuser to Carry New OSB Product

The NAHB Research Center that wood products industry leader Weyerhaeuser has begun distribution of oriented strand board products certified through the Research Center’s new third-party OSB product and quality management certification program.

The Research Center licenses its certified product mark to participating OSB manufacturers who have developed, implemented, and maintained a Quality Management System (QMS) based on ISO 9001-2000 standards as verified by periodic quality system audits, as well as product testing by the Research Center's laboratory.

As the program's first participating manufacturer, Weyerhaeuser is producing NAHB Research Center Certified OSB product in select mills across the country.

Security Properties Buys Apartments

Seattle - based Security Properties Inc. (“SP”) in partnership with GMAC Institutional Advisors has purchased the 91 unit Vantage Park Apartments in Seattle, Wash. for $15.2 million.