Crews removing sandbags along Green River in Tukwila

Armonda Alvaraeo, left, and Coleen Dove hook up another giant sandbag Monday to get lifted to a waiting dump truck. By about 3 p.m. four trucks had hauled away the contents of about 250 bags. BELOW: The process to attach and unload a bag takes well under five minutes. FINALLY: This was the scene in late October 2009 when a Goodfellow Bros. crew placed the bags along the Green River. - Dean A. Radford/Tukwila Reporter
Dean A. Radford/Tukwila Reporter
Armonda Alvaraeo, left, and Coleen Dove hook up another giant sandbag Monday to get lifted to a waiting dump truck. By about 3 p.m. four trucks had hauled away the contents of about 250 bags. BELOW: The process to attach and unload a bag takes well under five minutes. FINALLY: This was the scene in late October 2009 when a Goodfellow Bros. crew placed the bags along the Green River.

By DEAN RADFORD
Tukwila Reporter Editor
September 11, 2012 · Updated 8:46 AM 

Three years ago almost to the month, crews working for Goodfellow Bros. Inc. were placing giant sandbags along the Green River near Costco in Tukwila.

Now they're back removing them, under a $1.64 million contract with the City of Tukwila. A trackhoe lifted the bags weighing up to about two tons to a waiting dump truck equipped with sharp pyramid that would piece the bags.

Four trucks worked with the Goodfellow crew of two, plus the operator of the trackhoe.

Crews placed the sandbags three years ago along the Green River 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 and declared the dam once again as fully operational to protect cities along the Green River.

The King County Flood Control District will pay for 75 percent of the cost to remove the sandbags with the city paying 25 percent.

 

Contact Tukwila Reporter Editor Dean Radford at dradford@tukwilareporter.com or 425-255-3484 ext. 5050.

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