12/02/2023
The EasTrail Northup Way Connector Bridge was opened to Pedestrians and Bicyclists on December 1st following a well attended ribbon cutting ceremony. This project has been a truly collaborative effort. For the past year + during design development and construction, ZCC has thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work with a great group of people who developed a vision, designed a structure, and turned that vision and design into a 400 foot long structure that connects the 42 mile Eastrail corridor to the bicycle lanes along Northup Way. The project is unique in many ways. It has been privately funded by REI and Meta (formerly Facebook) with a King County Parks and Rec contingency grant. EasTrail Partners developed the vision and served as the project owner during the design and construction process. KGIP assembled the team of public and private partners and invited ZCC to be the contractor. Parametrix led the design process. Upon completion, the structure becomes the property of King County Parks and Recreation. The City of Bellevue is the permitting agency and their staff has been extremely helpful. The bridge structure geometry was largely dictated by the existing utilities. Two sets of overhead power lines (distribution and transmission lines), overhead comm lines, multiple underground fiber optic lines, a 12" waterline, a 10" high pressure gas main, and a 72" sanitary sewer line. The structure is supported by over 60 six inch diameter pin piles. Each utility was visually located and the 60 piling were successfully driven in the utility land mine. The project was completed under budget and thanks to the innovative public private partnership it has been constructed about five years sooner than the Eastrail Master Plan schedule. Scott Swenning and Preston Dunn led the ZCC project team.
