Summary

National trade publication Roads & Bridges awarded the South Park Bridge the No. 1 bridge project in America for 2015. The magazine honors projects that excel at meeting challenges and positively impact its region. The new bridge carries 20,000 vehicles and nearly 3,000 heavy-duty trucks each day as well as an estimated 10 million tons of freight each year.

Story

The South Park Bridge construction project continues to receive national awards for design, preservation, and engineering a year after King County Executive Dow Constantine led the opening celebration. The latest recognition comes from Roads & Bridges magazine, which named it the best bridge project in the United States for 2015. 

Many of the awards King County and its contractors have received for the South Park Bridge praise the drawbridge’s energy-efficient design that can raise both 3.5-million-pound drawspans with the same amount of energy it takes to drive a Toyota Prius.

Getting the job done locally

Executive Constantine created a public-private partnership to fund construction of the new drawbridge, which is a key industrial corridor connecting communities along the Duwamish River.

“Award-winning construction projects like South Park Bridge demonstrate our ability to deliver results,” said Executive Constantine. “National recognition for our infrastructure projects is important because it shows that, even in an era of federal gridlock and budget shortfalls, we can get the job done.”

The latest award from Roads & Bridges honors projects that excel at meeting project challenges and positively impacts its region. In describing why they selected it as the nation’s No. 1 bridge project, editors said:

"Erecting a new structure in the face of a treasured progenitor is a daunting task in the best of circumstances. Those surrounding the construction of the South Park Bascule Bridge were beyond extreme—this project towed narrow lines of strict operational quality, and did so amidst input from residents. In this sense, the new South Park Bascule Bridge is more than a bridge; it is a connector of communities on both shores of the Duwamish."

Other awards the South Park Bridge has received include:

• American Council of Engineering Companies Washington, 2015 Gold Award, Structural Systems
• American Council of Engineering Companies, Engineering Excellence Awards Competition, National Recognition Award
• American Public Works Association, 2015 Project of the Year Award, Transportation More than $75 Million
• American Society of Civil Engineers, 2014 Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award for Structural Engineering
• American Society of Civil Engineers Region 8, 2014 Project of the Year, Honorable Mention
• National Council of Structural Engineers Associations, 2015 NCSEA Excellence in Structural Engineering Award – Outstanding Project
• King County Historic Preservation Program, 2015 John D. Spellman Award for Exemplary Achievement in Historic Preservation

With two piers capped by brick-surfaced control towers and a sweeping bascule design, the new bridge recreates the look of its predecessor, which was torn down in 2010 due to safety concerns. King County Department of Transportation managed the project.

The new bridge carries 20,000 vehicles and nearly 3,000 heavy-duty trucks each day as well as an estimated 10 million tons of freight each year, including aerospace parts to local Boeing facilities.

Relevant links

• Executive Constantine delivers on promise to replace South Park Bridge
• NEWS: Reopening celebration of South Park Bridge
• GALLERY: South Park Bridge construction project   IMAGES
• South Park Bridge project website

Quotes

Award-winning construction projects like South Park Bridge demonstrate our ability to deliver results. National recognition for our infrastructure projects is important because it shows that, even in an era of federal gridlock and budget shortfalls, we can get the job done.

Erecting a new structure in the face of a treasured progenitor is a daunting task in the best of circumstances. Those surrounding the construction of the South Park Bascule Bridge were beyond extreme—this project towed narrow lines of strict operational quality, and did so amidst input from residents. In this sense, the new South Park Bascule Bridge is more than a bridge; it is a connector of communities on both shores of the Duwamish.

For more information, contact:

Chad Lewis , Executive Office, 206-263-1250