12-06-2019
By Bardia Nezhati, PE, PTOE
Intelligent mobility is a rapidly growing trend in urbanized areas to connect people, services and communities through the power of technology. It involves reimagining infrastructure-heavy approaches across all transportation modes and enabling the power of data and analytics, advanced technologies, and artificial intelligence. It has the potential to transform the way we move people and goods while saving lives, improving mobility, promoting su... (more)
11-26-2019
In this series, we follow the employee-owners of Parametrix to see what a day on the job for them entails.
We recently caught up Parametrix employee-owner Alex Johnson at the Shake Mill Revetment Repair project for King County in North Bend, WA. He walked us through what's happening at the project and what his role as a Resident Engineer includes.
11-25-2019
By Richard Roché, RG, LHG
Each year, Parametrix selects three projects of the year that exemplify our core values, mission, client service, and innovation. The Airport Solar project was named among the top three 2019 Parametrix Projects of the Year. Read about the project below.
Parametrix recently conducted a natural resources survey on the site of a solar energy electricity generating facility near Lakeview, OR. The team also monitored water resources, including mapping playas and potential wetlands within the 160-acre site.
The project included over 100 miles of mapping
Due to the very complicated site hydrology and soil conditions, challenges regarding defining playa edges, and evolving regulatory guidance, the project technical... (more)
11-21-2019
Eastgate P&R Rapid Charger Station
By Steve Olling, PE, PMP, ENV SP
The concept of a zero-emission bus fleet isn’t as far off as you might think. In fact, transit agency King County Metro has been using zero-emission trolley coaches in Seattle for nearly 80 years. The agency has also been recognized as a national leader in early adoption of diesel-electric hybrid buses.
King County Metro is well on their way to meeting their goal to have a zero-emission fleet by 2040. The agency has begun using battery electric coaches, along with continuing to use and modernize their electric trolley fleet. This meets around 11% of their goal already. Starting in 2020, Metro plans to only purchase zero-emission buses as older buses retire and to increase fleet size to meet growing service needs.
The agency will transition to a fleet of all-electric trolley and battery-electric buses ... (more)
11-15-2019
Groundbreaking of Boze Elementary School in Tacoma, WA. Photo Courtesy of Tacoma Public Schools.
By Jim Dugan
Tacoma Public Schools' Boze Elementary School is the first ever public K-12 school approved by the State of Washington to use the design-build method of project delivery. Since the school received approval in July 2017, multiple school districts have submitted for design-build approval to deliver public K-12 schools.
Construction is now underway on the new school to replace the original Boze Elementary, built in 1969. The budget for the new school, which will serve up to 550 preschool through 5th grade students, is $35.3 million. The project is being funded by a school construction bond passed by voters in 2013. When the bond was passed, it was based on a $295 per square foot construction cost. By 2019, construction costs had inflated to more than $450 per square foot. Innovation an... (more)
11-12-2019
Log jacks sit along the Wynoochee riverbank with the City of Montesano wastewater treatment plant in background
Montesano, WA is a town of around 4,000 located 40 miles southwest of the state capital. For years, the City’s wastewater treatment plant has been peacefully located along the banks of the Wynoochee River. However, now movement of the river
threatens to overtake the treatment plant. The bank continues to erode at an alarming rate of 17 feet per year. If this pattern were allowed to continue, the river could breach the plant, sending millions of gallons of raw sewage spilling down
the Wynoochee, into the Chehalis River, affecting many communities along the way and eventually making its way to Puget Sound.
more)
10-30-2019
Rendering courtesy of Hewitt Architects, Inc.
By Brad Phillips
Each year, Parametrix selects a Project of the Year that exemplifies our core values, mission, and vision. At the Employee-Ownership Celebration on October 12, the Downtown Redmond Link Extension project was named the 2019 Parametrix Project of the Year. Read about the project below.
Sound Transit is extending light rail 3.4 miles from the future Redmond Technology Center station to Downtown Redmond, WA. The project includes two new stations and a 1,400-stall park-and-ride garage.
Parametrix was selected as the prime consultant for the planning, preliminary engineering, environmental clearance, permitting, public involvement, multi-agency concurrence, and design-build procurement packaging. This includes managing over twenty subconsultants across multiple disciplines, with 15% small or dis... (more)
9-03-2019
Photo courtesy of Idaho Transportation Department.
By Shane Brown, PE, SE
The 19-span, 615-foot long precast concrete stringer bridge over the Snake River in Bruneau, Idaho was deteriorating and in need of replacement. Not only did the bridge need to be replaced within one year, but traffic flow needed to be maintained during construction. In addition, work would take place over the environmentally sensitive Snake River.
Photo courtesy of Idaho Transportation Department.
Parametrix was contracted by the Idaho Transportation Department to provide structural engineering services during construction. To meet the challenging project conditions, several innovative methods were used, including accelerated bridge construction (also known as t... (more)
Courtney Purdin |
8-06-2019
The Wilson Way Multi-Use Trail and Dune Peninsula Park at Point Defiance in Tacoma, WA opened to the public on July 6, 2019. Community members and project stakeholders gathered to celebrate the project’s completion and be some of the first to experience it. From the looks of it now, you may never know that the project sits on an EPA Superfund site where Asarco operated a copper smelter for over 100 years.
History of Tacoma Smelter
The Tacoma Smelter Plume shut down in 1985, but before it did, managed to pollute over 1,000 square miles of the Puget Sound region. 400,000 cubic yards of dirt had to be removed from the... (more)
7-25-2019
July 25, 2019 is National Intern Day! Meet the 11 students joining us this summer who will have the opportunity to gain challenging, hands-on project experience. Learn why they chose an internship at Parametrix and what they hope to achieve.
Maya McCants | Seattle, WA
Maya is a Seattle-area native who just wrapped up her sophomore year at Arizona State University. She plans to graduate with a degree in civil engineering.
This will be Maya’s second summer at Parametrix. When asked what made her return she said, “The people at Parametrix are very welcoming. There are many things I haven’t learned about construction - lots of codes, acronyms, and readings unfamiliar to me... (more)