WSDOT puts 520 Bridge pontoon casting site up for bid

Minimum bid $9.75 million on 54-acre site adjacent to Port of Grays Harbor

By Dan Hammock • May 6, 2017 11:50 am
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION The Washington State Department of Transportation has put their Aberdeen property on West Heron Street on the auction block. The property was used from 2011 to 2015 to build the huge pontoons used on the new 520 floating bridge.
WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION The Washington State Department of Transportation has put their Aberdeen property on West Heron Street on the auction block. The property was used from 2011 to 2015 to build the huge pontoons used on the new 520 floating bridge.

The Washington State Department of Transportation has placed the 54-acre U.S. Pacific Coast Marine pontoon project property on the auction block, setting a minimum bid of $9.75 million.

The site at 1301 W. Heron St. in Aberdeen was used by the Department of Transportation to cast the massive concrete pontoons used to build the new 520 bridge over Lake Washington near the University of Washington. The site has been vacant since it was decommissioned in 2015.

Built in 2011, the property holds a 900- by 200-foot casting basin in which the pontoons were constructed. The basin floor was made from 20,000 yards of concrete supported by more than 900 underground steel piles.

At the mouth of the basin is a three-piece, 150-ton gate that is 110 feet wide and 9 feet tall. The gate would be opened to allow finished pontoons to float out of the basin for transport to the construction site.

A recently released study by Nichols Marine Services placed zero value on the property, stating it would take $15 million to $20 million to strip it down to the condition it was in before the pontoon facility was built. The property would best be used for ship building, repair and maintenance, or for ship breaking or decommissioning — but modifications would cost up to $12.5 million to get any of those operations up and running, according to the report, which also states it would take nearly two years to accomplish that.

Potential bidders can tour the property upon request. The surety deposit requirement for submitting a bid on the property is $50,000. Interested parties can call 360-705-7358 or email randy.johnson@wsdot.wa.gov for more information.

The city of Aberdeen funded the Nichols study, but Mayor Erik Larson said the city does not have any interest in owning the property.

“I do not believe it is in the best interest of the city to own the pontoon facility property, and the report the city of Aberdeen facilitated has not changed my opinion on that matter,” he said. “Our interest, as the permitting agency, is in the future of the site now that it has been decommissioned. The city of Aberdeen is not set up to manage industrial or commercial property, and I think it would be a mistake for the city of Aberdeen to take ownership.”

Larson noted the report indicates it would be wise for the Department of Transportation to transfer ownership to a public agency better suited to manage the property.

“I believe the Port of Grays Harbor is an obvious candidate,” he said. “I have presented the findings of the report to the port commissioners and hope to continue discussions with the port and the Department of Transportation as the future of the site is determined.”

Calls to the Port of Grays Harbor regarding the property and the port’s potential interest in it were not immediately returned.