Northgate Link Extension Light Rail Project Wins ASCE Award

By TBM Staff March 18, 2022

McMillen Jacobs Associates has won the Outstanding Award in the Transportation and Development category of ASCE Seattle’s Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (LOCEA) Awards for the Northgate Link Extension project. The annual LOCEA awards recognize outstanding projects in the categories of Geotechnical, Structural, Ports and Waterways, Water Resources, Transportation and Development, and Small Project and Non-Construction Studies.

Northgate Link connects Sound Transit’s University Link light rail segment to the Northgate business/retail center and forms part of a system connecting four major urban centers to the existing Central Link (which extends from downtown Seattle to SeaTac airport). It consists of 4.3 miles (6.9 km) of double-track light rail, 3.2 miles (5.2 km) in twin bored soft-ground tunnels and 1.1 miles (1.7 km) in retained cut fills and elevated structures. The project also includes two underground transit stations (U District and Roosevelt), one elevated station (Northgate), a portal structure, and 23 cross passages.

Completed under budget and ahead of schedule, the project aims to increase light rail ridership, improve travel time, and add transit capacity to the congested Interstate-5 corridor. The project was officially opened to the public Oct. 2.

As Sound Transit’s prime consultant, McMillen Jacobs provided project management, tunnel and underground structure design, estimating and scheduling, and geotechnical engineering services. The team consisted of more than 30 firms, including key subconsultant partners WSP, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Hewitt Architects, and LMN Architects.