News

T.Y. Lin International Wins 2017 ACEC Honor Award for Sellwood Bridge Replacement

T.Y. Lin International Wins 2017 ACEC Honor Award for Sellwood Bridge Replacement

Awards
Innovation
Sellwood_Dusk_MC_170418415

T.Y. Lin International (TYLI), a globally recognized, full-service infrastructure consulting firm, announces that the Sellwood Bridge Replacement project (Sellwood Bridge) in Portland, Oregon, has received an Honor Award in the 2017 Engineering Excellence Awards competition of the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC).

TYLI served as Prime Consultant, Final Design, on the fast-track project, working closely with the Project Owner, Multnomah County, design subconsultant CH2M, and Construction Manager/General Contractor, Slayden/Sundt Joint Venture. The 2017 Honor Award was presented to the TYLI team at the ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on April 25, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

The Sellwood Bridge across the Willamette River opened to traffic on February 29, 2016, and replaces a deteriorating fixed span structure built in 1925. The 1,976-foot-long bridge, 1,275 feet of which is a steel deck arch, features three arch spans that support the 63- to 90-foot-wide deck of the main river spans. The new, seismically resilient bridge carries two 12-foot-wide vehicular lanes, two 6.5-foot-wide bike lanes/emergency shoulders, and two 12-foot-wide shared-use sidewalks. TYLI also designed the bridge to accommodate future streetcar service.

The bridge replacement project also included modernization of the Highway 43 interchange and stabilization of a hillside located west of and above the bridge and interchange. The locally preferred alternative for a steel deck arch, combined with a landslide condition for the west abutment of the bridge, created a unique engineering challenge. The TYLI team developed an advanced solution that combined geotechnical design with a foundation design for the stability needed to found the deck arch against the west hillside.

“Few landmark bridge projects, if any, have dealt with the threat of landslide movement by utilizing a true arch bridge design solution,” said David Goodyear, P.E., S.E., PEng, TYLI Senior Vice President and Chief Bridge Engineer. “T.Y. Lin International is very pleased that the American Council of Engineering Companies has recognized the Sellwood Bridge as one of the year's most outstanding engineering accomplishments.”

Another significant aspect of the project was the active participation of local communities in every phase of the project. In addition to ensuring that public input was reflected in the final design of the signature bridge, TYLI also reduced the final Sellwood Bridge footprint significantly from early concepts, reducing project costs and minimizing environmental disturbances.

In January of this year, the Sellwood Bridge was also honored with the 2017 Engineering Excellence Project of the Year Award and the 2017 People’s Choice Award from ACEC Oregon.

Photo credit: Tom Paiva Photography

Related News