Originally published February 21, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified February 22, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Construction glitches may delay Brightwater
Glitches in construction of the Brightwater sewage-treatment plant and a treated-waste pipeline tunnel could delay the planned 2010 opening...
Seattle Times staff reporter
Glitches in construction of the Brightwater sewage-treatment plant and a treated-waste pipeline tunnel could delay the planned 2010 opening of the plant, a consultant told a Metropolitan King County Council committee Wednesday.
The consultant, R.W. Beck, also bumped up its cost estimate to at least $1.84 billion. Beck raised the low end of the cost range from the previous $1.83 billion and left the high end unchanged at $1.86 billion.
But the price could go higher if contractors run into unexpected problems in digging a 13-mile-long tunnel — up to 430 feet deep — that will take treated sewage to Puget Sound.
"There is always the risk in tunnels that they are going to encounter something major and unforeseen despite all the geotechnical work that was done," Beck senior director Pat Tangora said after a meeting of the County Council's capital-budget committee.
King County's budget for the project remains at $1.77 billion, but Project Manager Gunars Sreibers said the budget will be recalculated this spring. Brightwater, under construction near the Highway 9-Highway 522 interchange north of Woodinville, will treat sewage from customers in North King County and South Snohomish County when it is completed in late 2010 or early 2011.
Beck representatives said it is too early to say for certain whether construction problems will push back opening of the plant.
Even the Iraq war is figuring into the delay.
Work on the eastern segment of the tunnel is more than four months behind schedule, Beck reported. The start of construction initially was held up when the tunnel contractor couldn't obtain ball bearings for a boring machine because the Defense Department had requisitioned the entire output of the ball-bearing manufacturer for the war.
Since the contractor began work, tunneling through unstable peat under Northeast 195th Street in North Creek has gone slower than expected.
Another contractor took longer than scheduled to place closely spaced steel rebar intended to protect buildings from damage in an earthquake. That delay has used up nearly all of the "float," or cushion, in the construction schedule, Tangora said.
Sewer-utility managers say the Brightwater deadline is important because the risk of storm-related overflows of a Kenmore-area sewage pipeline will continue to rise until the plant begins operating.
The cost of Brightwater was originally estimated at $788 million in 1998 dollars, or $1 billion with inflation added.
Keith Ervin: 206-464-2105 or kervin@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
8 Drawer Dresser with Attached Mirror - $200
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
A American Table, Chairs and Bench - $275
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Contractors equipment and vehicle auction
- Pitch Black Weekend Sale at Mapel
- Karan Dannenberg Clothier Black Friday Sale
- Dish It Up! Totally Truffles
editors' picks
More shopping guides- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
328 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
200 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
170 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
137 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
93 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
81 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
78 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
70 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
64 - Ranking the Pac
53
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Taste | The Great Pie Bake-off pits friends and fruit

