Inside/Out Newsletter | Fall 2018 | Issue 71

ISSUE 71

INSIDE OUT

NEWSLETTER Autumn | 2018

BergerABAM provided structural and civil design services for a new 12,000-square-foot design-build working dog kennel at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Construction of the new kennel was completed earlier this year and has 18 indoor kennels.

New Military Kennel Supports Canines and Commanders The current kennel facility on the 1st Special Forces Group East Compound at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), Washington, is used to maintain and train military working dogs. Military working dog teams are highly specialized groups that support commanders in various operations and in warfighting. Today’s military working dog program employs expertly trained canine handlers coupled with highly intelligent breeds of dogs.

The original kennel building was constructed in 1945 and was used as a medical clinic. It was later repurposed as a veterinarian clinic and then a dog kennel. The new military working dog kennel (MWDK) is located at McKinley Avenue and Hayes Street, approximately a mile south of the old kennel site on the 1st Special Forces Group East Compound.

As prime consultant, BergerABAM provided structural and civil design services for a complete design-build solicitation package of the MWDK for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District. The plans for the new 12,000-square-foot MWDK included an administrative and obedience training support facility, kennel area, and military working dog workout space. Additional features included utilities, fire alarm system, communication

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system, security fencing and alarm system, radiant heating in interior flooring, new parking lot, and other site improvements. The layout of the new building also allows for future expansion if desired.

Construction of the new MWDK facility was completed earlier this year and has 18 indoor kennels with attached covered outdoor runs. The building also contains a dog washroom, a dog food storage room, food prep kitchen area, offices, restrooms, locker room, and veterinarian clinic area with X-ray and operating rooms.

The MWDK was just one of several facilities within the Special Operations Forces design-build request for proposal (RFP) for the 1st Special Forces Group. (continued on page 2)

To update your contact information, please email newsletter@abam.com EDITORS/CONTRIBUTORS Nora BretaĂąa, Lynn Enebrad, Kelsey Hilmes, Lauren Hurst, Jana Roy, and Diann Scherer DESIGN AND PRODUCTION Ailoan Che and Kelsey Hilmes

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BergerABAM also prepared design-build RFP solicitation documents for the battalion headquarters and company operations facility, tactical equipment maintenace facility, tactical unmanned aerial vehicle maintenance facility, and the communications data center. These buildings were all constructed earlier this year.

With the new MWDK now open, the military working dog program can continue to support the 1st Special Forces Group operations at JBLM, providing a functional living environment for the military working dogs.

Breaking Ground on the ‘Road to Jobs’ with the City of Fife The project team looked at 12 alternatives before selecting this design as the most cost-effective and most efficient at moving traffic.

Leaders from the community, including Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, addressed the crowd at the groundbreaking. Photo courtesy of the Port of Tacoma.

On 18 July 2018, the City of Fife broke ground on Phase 1 of a major construction project at the Interstate 5 (I-5)/Port of Tacoma Road interchange. The two-part, $42.5 million construction project aims to speed traffic between the Port of Tacoma and I-5.

City of Fife staff and local government representatives attended the groundbreaking. Washington State Governor Jay Inslee was among those who addressed the crowd at the celebration. “Today I get to say, ‘If you want to improve your life, build a road to Fife,’” Inslee said. “And by improving lives in this regard, if anybody asked you what this road connection is, it’s a road to jobs.”

Currently, trucks at Port of Tacoma Road and Pacific Highway East create a bottleneck. An estimated 10,000 trucks cross this intersection daily. Phase 1 of the project will reconstruct and convert 34th Avenue East to a northbound connection from I-5 and widen 12th Street East to four lanes. Phase 1 is scheduled for completion in 2020. Design of Phase 2 will include a new bridge over the freeway from 34th South to 20th Street East and reconfigured northbound ramps. Phase 2 will also take two years to construct.

BergerABAM is the lead consultant on both phases of the project. The project team looked at 12 alternatives

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before selecting this design as the most cost-effective and most efficient at moving traffic. The extensive study included preliminary geometric design for over a dozen alternatives, as well as a 30-year horizon Travel Demand Forecasting and VISSIM microsimulation modeling. A three-tiered, customized screening analysis identified the one-way diamond couplet as the preferred configuration.

This interchange reconstruction will be the first of its class in the region. In addition to showing the merits of the selected alternative over the starting point plan, the produced VISSIM simulations were also used as an important piece in presentations with the City Council, as well as other project partners, and were instrumental in gaining consensus with the Washington State Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.

The design also minimizes impacts during construction by keeping the existing interchange open. The design process included an extensive screening process to identify necessary improvements to speed up movement of traffic into the Port and improve access, safety, and reliability.

The project also included significant public involvement, channelization plans preparation, preliminary right-of-way identification, cost estimating, and phasing plans.

The City of Fife first launched efforts to get this project underway roughly 15 years ago. The groundbreaking marks an important milestone and represents the perseverance and incredible efforts of many individuals, including Russ Blount, City of Fife’s public works director.

Under his leadership and through years of determined collaboration, the BergerABAM team and City of Fife have been able to make Phase 1 of this critical interchange improvement project come to fruition. This partnership will continue through the design of Phase 2, which will commence later this year.

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BergerABAM Bridge Engineers Teach Summer Course at UW Experienced bridge engineers from BergerABAM went back to school this summer to teach a bridge engineering class at the University of Washington (UW). The College of Engineering, Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, Course 529 [CESG 529 Bridge Engineering] is a graduatelevel course in the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department at UW. The nine-week lecture series covered a variety of bridge engineering studies, including types and sizes; design load and resistance factors; seismic design; design of prestressed concrete girders, structural steel girders, decks, expansion joints and bearings, crossbeams, columns, foundations, and abutments; and bridge construction practices.

Six of BergerABAM’s in-house bridge experts taught the course over the span of 17 sessions, including lead instructor Jim Guarre who has over 50 years of experience in the industry and Dr. Lee Marsh, a nationally recognized professional in the seismic analysis and design of bridges. The group of instructors also included senior project manager, Chuck Spry; project managers, Stuart Bennion and Greg Banks; and senior construction project manager, Bob Lee. Besides having two UW alumni on the teaching board (and, yes, one Cougar), BergerABAM has a long-standing relationship with the UW CEE structural engineering faculty regarding subjects and research related to bridge design and construction.

The CESG 529 Bridge Engineering course aimed to provide students with a broader knowledge of bridge engineering in the United States and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Load and Resistance Factor Bridge Design Specifications [AASHTO LRFD, 8th Edition, 2017]. After completing the course, graduate students have a greater understanding of bridge engineering that will allow them to design and prepare construction documents for typical prestressed concrete and steel girder bridges.

According to Jim Guarre, the objective of the course went beyond the bridge design: “This course is intended to show students that developing calculations is only part of

Aiming to provide students with a broader knowledge of bridge engineering, six BergerABAM bridge engineers taught the CESG 529 course at UW this summer.

After completing the course, graduate students have a greater understanding of bridge engineering that will allow them to design and prepare construction documents for typical prestressed concrete and steel girder bridges. the story; the rest of the story is developing constructible [including biddable, administrable during construction, buildable, and functional] designs, and communicating these designs to owners and builders.”

For more information about bridge engineering courses and other current UW classes, visit https://www.pce. uw.edu/.

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Assessing Washington State Schools for Seismic Safety

Washington State has a high risk of experiencing strong and damaging earthquakes because of its geological setting, particularly on the western side near the Cascadia subduction zone. This risk makes it critical to address the seismic safety of schools in the state.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is taking measures to assess seismic safety in many of Washington’s aging K-12 schools. The Washington Geological Survey (WGS), a division of DNR, recently received funding to work with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and a team of structural engineers to conduct seismic assessments at approximately 220 school buildings.

The Washington schools seismic safety program is long overdue. Approximately 1,700 of roughly 2,000 school campuses in the state were constructed before 2005. At least 200 schools are located within 1 mile of an active fault. More than 72 percent of schools are located in a high to very high seismic hazard zone, and more than 200 schools are located on grounds at high risk of liquefaction during an earthquake.

For the school seismic safety program, structural engineers perform one- to two-day field assessments of preselected school buildings. The inspection includes a visual observation to complete seismic screening checklists and review of record drawings of the facilities.

Based on these observations, conceptual seismic retrofit plans are produced for 20 of the school buildings deemed

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most at risk. The project also prioritizes the remaining schools that are seismically deficient and helps identify additional funding sources for seismic retrofit.

In addition to structural assessment of the school buildings, the program involves geophysical surveys of the ground conditions of each campus. Geophysical surveys analyze sound waves traveling through the ground and refracting off subsurface layers and are then recorded by detectors (geophones).

The school seismic safety assessment process involves • • • •

Defining facilities at risk Conducting field assessments and geophysical surveys Preparing conceptual designs of representative buildings P roviding a summary report to OSPI, including vulnerable school inventory, priority schools for retrofit, and potential funding sources • I nforming state legislators of school seismic vulnerabilities and recommendations for retrofit

WGS is leading the geological site characterization at each campus, while Reid Middleton, Inc. is leading the team of structural engineers. Other program partners include DCI Engineers, WRK Engineers, and ProDims.

As part of the structural team, BergerABAM has already visited 32 schools in 11 districts. A final report summarizing results and recommendations, retrofit costs, and design concepts will be provided to OSPI by June 2019.

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We are pleased to welcome the following new team members to BergerABAM.

Arjun KC

Twila Wittmann

Federal Way Office

Federal Way Office

Arjun KC is a project engineer with the Public Works and Transportation Department. He earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University of Portland and his master’s in water resources engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Twila Wittmann is a senior project coordinator for the Waterfront Department. Twila attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied social sciences. She joins us with nearly 10 years of experience in the industry.

Brandon Leach

Hari Dhamala

Federal Way Office

Las Vegas Office

Brandon Leach is a construction inspector working for the Public Works and Transportation Department. He joins us with over 25 years of experience and previously worked as an equipment operator.

Hari Dhamala is an engineer-in-training with the Public Works and Transportation Department in the Las Vegas office. He earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering at the Tribhuvan University and his master’s at the University of New Mexico.

Alexander Liu

Mark Foster

Federal Way Office

Federal Way Office

Alex Liu is an engineer-in-training for the Facilities Department. He earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering with a minor in aeronautics from the University of Washington. As a student, Alex was part of the Space X Hyperloop team and civil engineering capstone team.

Mark Foster is a Building Information Modeling designer with the Waterfront Department working in the Federal Way office.

Jodhvir Singh

Rian Dertien

Federal Way Office

Houston Office

Jodhvir Singh is an engineer-in-training for the Public Works and Transportation Department in Federal Way. He earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering from Washington State University.

Donald Sullivan

Rian Dertien is an engineer-in-training working in the International Ports and Terminals Department in the Houston office. He earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering at Florida State University and his master’s at the University of Central Florida.

Pete Bailey

Federal Way Office

Federal Way Office

Donald Sullivan is a construction inspector working for the Public Works and Transportation Department on the Tremont project. He is located at the site field office in Port Orchard. Don relocated from Detroit, Michigan, where he worked as a construction materials inspector.

Pete Bailey is a senior project engineer working for the Facilities Department in Federal Way. Pete earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering from Utah State University.

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