Osborn Consulting (OCI), along with City of Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) and the rest of the project team, has been awarded a Local Outstanding Engineering Achievement (LOCEA) award for their work on the Fritz Hedges Waterway Park. OCI is honored to be recognized for this newly opened project by The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Seattle Section.
Also known as the Portage Bay Park, the waterfront was transformed into the beautiful new Fritz Hedges Waterway Park by SPR, a multi-year project completed in fall of 2020.
The new 3.5-acre park makes creative use of the compact area, which has seen many uses throughout its history. Native Americans traversed this area, carrying their canoes along the Portage Bay Trail between Lake Union and lake Washington. Since then, the site has been used for a lumber mill site, then boat marina, and most recently the location of the University of Washington police station and recycling center.
These varied uses of this site over the years resulted in contaminated soils, which could potentially endanger the Portage Bay salmon habitat along the shoreline if disrupted. Innovative design solutions were employed to keep the contaminated soil on-site and prevent it from spreading during or after construction. Due to the prominent location at the south terminus of the University of Washington, the design focused on providing a cost-effective approach that can withstand the rigors of a very popular park.
The final project delivers a much-needed green space to the surrounding community, improves the local habitat for salmon, and turns this once inaccessible waterfront into a beautiful public space.
On March 10th, 2021, Joan Montgomery, Senior Project Engineer at OCI, accepted the award at the annual LOCEA Awards Ceremony, and also gave a presentation featuring a project overview, project history, as well as pictures from pre- and post- construction.
The consultant team was led by Walker | Macy, and supported by OCI as the civil design lead, KPFF, Maul Foster Alongi, Tres West Engineers, Merit Engineering, Design Two Four / Two Six, dark | light, and Grette Associates.
The ASCE LOCEA Awards recognizes projects that have improved the quality of life and contributed to the economic development of the local community, area, or region. Visit the ASCE Seattle Section website to learn more about their mission and award program here.
