On March 7, a GeoEngineers project won an Innovative Transportation Solutions Award from WTS (Women in Transportation Seminar) at the organization’s WTS Puget Sound Annual Scholarship and Awards Gala. WTS recognized the Swift Green Line Project, a new 12-mile rapid transit bus line running from Bothell, a suburb of Seattle, Washington, to Paine Field Airport farther to the north in Everett.
GeoEngineers provided geotechnical and environmental services as a subconsultant to Otak Inc. for this important multi-phase transportation project. The Swift Green Line route includes 34 new bus stations, BAT (business access and transit-only) lanes, retaining walls, infiltration galleries, new signals and other surface features. Since most project work sites included high-volume roads, the team had to carefully implement traffic control plans and sometimes scheduled work at night to meet permit criteria. Because the line crosses through several jurisdictions, environmental permitting was also particularly complex.
“Just managing the logistics alone was challenging,” says Project Associate Deb Overbay (Redmond). “At every station we had to work with a new group of stakeholders.”
WTS recognized the project for its technical complexity and importance to mass transportation in the Seattle metro region, but it also highlighted another of GeoEngineers’ strengths—the project team was composed primarily of women. Deb Overbay and Senior Geotechnical Engineer Nancy Tochko led the geotechnical team and Principal Environmental Engineer Dana Carlisle and Environmental Geologist Jessica Robertson headed the environmental work.
“Overall, I’m really proud of our team on this project,” Overbay says. “All of our staff were very responsive and engaged throughout.”
A large group of GeoEngineers staff was on-hand Thursday night at the WTS Awards Gala to watch Community Transit (the project owner) receive the award. Construction on the Swift Green Line is almost complete, and buses will begin operating before the end of the month.
