Tukwila awards contract to remove sandbags along Green River

The same company that installed the sandbags and green Hesco units in Tukwila submitted the low bid to remove the barriers from along the Green River levees in the city.

Goodfellow Bros. Inc., based in Wenatchee with a regional office in Maple Valley, submitted a low bid June 12 of $1.64 million to remove the sandbags and repair any damages to the levee, according to city documents.

“Goodfellow installed the Super Saks and Hesco units, so they are familiar with the project site,” said Bob Giberson, city public works director, in an email.

But it could be December before the Green River Trail reopens and West Valley Highway is restored to a full five-lane section between Strander Boulevard and South 180th Street. Crews reduced the West Valley Highway to four lanes to allow room for the Hesco barriers.

Crews placed the sandbags three years ago as extra protection on the levees because of damage to an abutment next to the Howard Hanson Dam from a 2009 winter storm. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers repaired the abutment last fall.

The low bid must go through the city Utilities Committee, Committee of the Whole and then the City Council for approval, Giberson said.

City officials also are finalizing an agreement with the King County Flood Control District to pay for 75 percent of the cost to remove the sandbags. That agreement is expected to be reached in the next 30 days or so.

Once the city awards the contract, it takes a few weeks for a contractor to mobilize and have equipment ready, Giberson said.

The contractor will have 120 days to finish the project, removing the Super Saks from the trail and the Hesco units from the east side of the river, many of them along the West Valley Highway. If the contractor starts work by Aug. 1, the contract would require completion by Dec. 1.

“The trail will be closed until it can be repaired and repaved,” Giberson said. “If the  weather is warm and sunny through December, we will have an excellent chance of re-opening the trail this year. If the weather resembles this June, all bets are off.”

Once city officials meet with the contractor for a pre-construction meeting, an exact schedule of removing the sandbags will be known.

Contact Tukwila Reporter Reporter Steve Hunter at shunter@tukwilareporter.com or 253-872-6600, ext. 5052.

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