HMM wins coveted Alaskan Way CM

Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM) has won the hotly contested US$11 million five-year construction management services contract for the 2.7km (1.7-mile) long Alaskan Way Viaduct Bored Tunnel project, in Seattle, Washington, USA. Linea Laird, Director of Central & North Projects for owner Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), told Tunnelling Journal that a very strong response had been received from the consultant community to provide CM services for the massive 58ft (17.6m) diameter EPBM bored tunnel and that HMM had provided the best technically qualified proposal.

“This team adds to the skills of WSDOT, offering individuals with world class tunneling experience in similar soil conditions and at over 40ft (12m) in diameter, which will help us to deliver the project on-time and on-budget,” said Laird.

Consultants vying for the contract were required to demonstrate expertise in soft ground pressurized face tunneling, TBM instrumentation and performance analysis, precast concrete segmental lining systems, hyperbaric interventions, geotechnical instrumentation for monitoring protection of existing structures, deep ground techniques to control tunnel construction induced ground movement, and system integration oversight for roadway and tunnel systems.

HMM’s CM team will work alongside Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP), the project’s design-build consortium – consisting of Dragados-USA, HNTB Corp and Tutor-Perini – through the preliminary engineering and final construction phases of the US$1.09 billion project, which has a targeted opening date of 31 December 2015 (for full details see NATJ Jan 2011, p12).

“The Alaskan Way Viaduct/SR99 Bored Tunnel is world-class project with world-class challenges,“ said HMM Vice President, Stephen Mauss. “We are very pleased to add Construction Management to our ongoing Program Management services in support of the WSDOT team.”