>>>
>>> "NEW
>>> "NEW DAY NORTHWEST" IS BACK.
BACK.
BACK. NOW
BACK. NOW HERE'S MARGARET LARSON.
>> WHEN IT OPENS IN 2023, THE
EAST LINK TRACKS CONNECTING
SEATTLE TO MERCER ISLAND AND
BELLEVUE WILL BECOME THE FIRST
LIGHT RAIL EVER IN THE WORLD TO
BE ON A FLOATING BRIDGE.
HERE TO EXPLAIN HOW THIS
ENGINEERING MARVEL IS ABOUT TO
BECOME REALITY IS SOUND TRANSIT
ENGINEER JOHN SLEAVIN.
THIS IS IMPRESSIVE.
WHEN WE SAY IT IS UNIQUE, IT IS
TRULY THAT, THAT'S NO
HYPERBOLE.
HYPERBOLE. WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENCE?
>> IT'S A FLOATING BRIDGE.
A UNIQUE STRUCTURE IN AND OF
ITSELF, ALTHOUGH A NUMBER IN
THIS STATE.
THIS STATE. PUTTING LIGHT RAIL ON A BRIDGE,
FLOATING BRIDGES ARE FLOATING
BY DEFINITION SO THEY MOVE, AS
YOU CAN SEE.
>> UP AND DOWN AND SIDE TO
SIDE.
SIDE.
SIDE. >>
SIDE. >> CORRECT.
>> CORRECT. DUE TO WIND, LAKE LEVELS AND
ALL THAT.
ALL THAT.
ALL THAT. SO CARS CAN HANDLE THAT
MOVEMENT BECAUSE THE STATE
DESIGNED IN WHAT'S CALLED AN
ACCORDION JOINT, LOOKS LIKE AN
ACCORDION BAFFLE AND CARS DRIVE
OVER THAT.
OVER THAT. WHEN LIGHT RAILS ARE ON A FIXED
ROAD SO IT IS PROBLEMATIC.
>> HOW DID YOU APPROACH THIS?
>> FIRST WE DID IS TOOK A LOT
OF TIME.
OF TIME.
OF TIME. MADE SURE WE LOOKED AT IT EARLY
TO GIVE US A CHANCE TO LOOK AT
THOSE OPTIONS.
THOSE OPTIONS. WE HIRED WORLD CLASS ENGINEERS
SO WE WENT OUT AND SEARCHED THE
WORLD BASICALLY AND ASKED FOR
PROPOSALS FOR PEOPLE TO COME IN
AND THEN WE STARTED LOOKING AT
DIFFERENT DESIGNS ON PAPER,
THINGS THAT MIGHT WORK.
ONCE WE THOUGHT WE HAD SOME
IDEAS FOR THAT, WE DESIGNED
COMPUTER MODELS AND WE PUT ALL
THOSE INPUTS AND LOOKED AT HOW
THE STRESSES AND THE STRAINS OR
HOW THESE ITEMS WOULD WORK.
AFTER THE COMPUTER MODELS WERE
DONE, WE THOUGHT WE HAD
SOMETHING THAT WORKED PRETTY
WELL.
WELL.
WELL. WE
WELL. WE DID PROTOTYPES OR PIECES OF
THAT TRACK AND WE TOOK IT TO
THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON,
TO THEIR STRUCTURAL LAB AND WE
TESTED THOSE COMPONENTS.
AGAIN, WE LEARNED MORE FROM
THAT AND THEN WE BUILT FULL
SIZE, FULL SIZE WHAT THESE
PIECES ARE GOING TO BE TO GO
ONTO THIS BRIDGE AND TOOK THEM
TO PUEBLO, COLORADO WHICH SEEMS
LIKE A LONG WAY AWAY.
>> NOT MUCH WATER THERE.
WHAT HAPPENED?
WHAT HAPPENED? >> NOT MUCH WATER.
INTO THE LAST ICE THAT GLACIER
LAKE WENT AWAY.
BUT THAT HAS A 15 SQUARE MILE
TEST TRACK FOR RAIL FACILITIES,
HEAVY RAIL, ALL SORTS OF THINGS
SO THEY TEST A LOT OF RAIL
THERE.
THERE.
THERE. SO
THERE. SO WE BUILT A MILE LONG SECTION
WHERE WE COULD SIMULATE MOVING
THE RAILS LEFT AND RIGHT AND UP
AND DOWN.
AND DOWN.
AND DOWN. AND WE RAN OUR TRAINS.
WE BROUGHT TWO OF OUR TRAINS
OUT TO PUEBLO AND WE RAN IT
ACROSS THIS TRACK, FIRST AT
WALKING SPEED AND THEN UP TO
FULL 55 MILES AN HOUR AND WE
HAD 500 CHANNELS OF DATA, BOTH
TESTING ON THE RAIL ITSELF AND
IN THE TRAIN TO SEE WHAT THE
RIDE QUALITY WAS LIKE, HOW THE
STRESSES AND THE STRAIN, AND
ONCE WE DETERMINED THAT THOSE
ALL WORKED AND CONFIRMED WHAT
THE MODEL HAD SHOWN, WE WERE
HIGHLY, HIGHLY CONFIDENT THAT
WE NOW HAD A SYSTEM THAT
WORKED.
WORKED.
WORKED. >> THAT IS AMAZING.
HOW LONG AGO DID YOU FINISH THE
DESIGN WORK?
DESIGN WORK? >> WE STARTED THE WORK ABOUT 10
YEARS AGO.
YEARS AGO. SO IT WAS A LONG PROCESS.
WE GAVE OURSELVES A LOT OF
EXTRA TIME IN CASE MAYBE THINGS
DIDN'T GO SO WELL.
AS ENGINEERS WE LIKE TO BUILD
IN CONTINGENCY.
IN CONTINGENCY. WE FINISHED THE DESIGN WORK
ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO BUT THAT
WAS SORT OF EXTRA TIME IN THERE
JUST IN CASE, MAYBE THINGS
DIDN'T GO AS WELL AS PLANNED
AND WE HAD EXTRA TIME.
>> I KNOW YOU WORK WITH
ENGINEERING AND MATH AND THINGS
THAT HAVE A RIGHT ANSWER TO
THEM BUT WHAT IS THE PRESSURE
LIKE OF TRYING TO DO SOMETHING
THAT IS SO IMPORTANT TO OUR
SAFETY AND OUR TRANSPORTATION
AND DOING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME
WITH NOTHING REALLY TO MODEL IT
ON?
ON?
ON? >>
ON? >> IT'S REALLY FUN.
>> IS IT?
>> IS IT?
>> IS IT? >> AS AN ENGINEER --
>> IT WOULD BE TERRIFYING TO ME
BUT YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A FUN
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE?
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE? >> THIS IS THE WHOLE REASON I
BECAME AN ENGINEER TO TRY
SOMETHING NEW AND HOW DO YOU
APPROACH IT.
APPROACH IT. YOU SYSTEMATICALLY SET UP
PLANS, YOU GO THROUGH THOSE
PLANS, YOU CHECK IT AND SEE HOW
IT WORKS AND YOU GO BACK AND
LOOK AT IT AGAIN.
BUT THAT'S ALL THE FUN IN IT.
>> ALL THE ITERATIONS TO GET
WHERE YOU'RE GOING.
WHEN WILL THIS BE COMPLETE AND
WILL YOU BE ON THE FIRST RIDE?
>> I HOPE TO BE ON ONE OF THE
EARLY TRAINS, ABSOLUTELY.
WE ARE LOOKING TO OPEN REVENUE
SERVICE IN 2023 TO CONNECT
SEATTLE, MERCER ISLAND,
BELLEVUE AND OUT TO REDMOND.
>> HOW DID YOU COLLECT YOUR
TEAM?
TEAM?
TEAM? >>
TEAM? >> SO WHAT WE DID IS PUT OUT A
PROPOSAL TO ENGINEERING FIRMS
TO ASK HOW THEY WANTED TO
APPROACH IT AND THEN WE
EVALUATED THAT, WHO IS ON THAT
TEAM.
TEAM.
TEAM. WE
TEAM. WE GOT WORLD CLASS DESIGNERS IN
THIS PARTICULAR CASE IT CAME
FROM ENGLAND, IT CAME FROM
EUROPE, WE ARE PROPOSED ON PART
OF AN INTERNATIONAL TEAM AND WE
HAD PROFESSORS ON THE TEAM.
SO IT WAS A LOT OF THINKING OUT
OF THE BOX TYPE FOLKS WE WERE
LOOKING FOR.
LOOKING FOR. >> THEN I IMAGINE THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THIS IS ALSO A
SPECIALTY ITEM, RIGHT?
BECAUSE NOBODY HAS DONE THIS
BEFORE SO THEY TOO ARE NEW?
>> CORRECT.
>> CORRECT. SO THE CONTRACTOR, WE ACTUALLY
WENT, HIRED THEM SORT OF EARLY
ON BEFORE WE HAD A FINAL BID TO
WORK WITH WSDOT AND OURSELVES,
LIKE HOW WE WERE GOING TO BUILD
THIS.
THIS.
THIS. WE
THIS. WE BUILT TEST LABS FOR HOW THEY
WERE GOING TO ATTACH ALL THIS
OUT IN THEIR YARD TO PRACTICE
SO WE WEREN'T PRACTICING OUT ON
THE FLOATING BRIDGES ITSELF.
>> NOT SO GOOD TO BE DOING
THAT.
THAT.
THAT. DID
THAT. DID YOU VISIT LIGHT RAIL
PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD?
HOW DID YOU GET AN INSPIRATION
FOR WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO HERE?
>> EVERY TIME I TRAVEL ANYWHERE
I ALWAYS DRAG MY WIFE AND SON
TO GO LOOK AT SOME OF THOSE.
SO, YES, BUT I HAVE GONE TO
VARIOUS PLACES AROUND THE
WORLD.
WORLD.
WORLD. AGAIN, THIS IS UNIQUE SO THIS
PARTICULAR CASE THERE WEREN'T A
LOT OF EXAMPLES TO LOOK AT.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. WHAT OTHER PROJECTS HAVE YOU
WORKED ON THAT YOU WOULD SAY
COMPARE TO THIS AT ALL?
>> WELL, WAY BACK WHEN, WHEN I
WAS A JUNIOR ENGINEER I WORKED
ON THE BUS TUNNEL.
PORTLAND STREET CAR, WHICH IS
THE FIRST TIME THEY HAVE DONE A
MODERN STREET CAR IN THIS
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. DID THE TUNNEL DESIGN OUT
THROUGH THE WEST HILLS AND THEN
CAME BACK UP HERE AND HAVE BEEN
WORKING ON SOUND TRANSIT
PROJECTS, BOTH THE COMMUTER
RAIL AND THE LIGHT RAIL HERE.
SO THEY ALL HAVE THEIR
CHALLENGES WHICH IS SO MUCH
FUN.
FUN.
FUN. >>
FUN. >> BUT IT'S AN AWESOME THING
BECAUSE IT CHANGES WHAT'S
POSSIBLE FOR PEOPLE.
WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE WILL BE
THE CHANGE FOR RIDERS WHEN WE
REACH ALL THE WAY OUT TO
BELLEVUE?
BELLEVUE?
BELLEVUE? >> YOU KNOW, FAST, RELIABLE,
COMFORTABLE SERVICE BETWEEN THE
EAST SIDE AND THE WEST SIDE,
REALLY HELPING TO KNIT OUR
COMMUNITY TOGETHER.
COMMUNITY TOGETHER. AN ALTERNATIVE IS WE ARE NOT
TRYING TO REPLACE CARS OR
ANYTHING ELSE BUT TRYING TO
GIVE AN ALTERNATIVE TO FOLKS
WHO WANT OTHER WAYS OF GETTING
THROUGH.
THROUGH.
THROUGH. >> WE CAN MAKE CHOICES.
DID THE TIME KIND OF FLY BY?
IT SEEMS LIKE THAT'S A LOT OF
YEARS WORKING ON THIS.
ON THE OTHER HAND WITH ALL YOU
HAD TO DO, I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT
YOU WASTED A SINGLE SECOND.
>> YEAH, WE ALL GO TO WORK
EVERY DAY AND WE TAKE THE NEXT
DAYS AND THE NEXT WEEKS'
CHALLENGES AND TAKE IT IN
BITES.
BITES.
BITES. YEAH, IT DID FLY BY.
IT'S AMAZING WHEN I THINK ABOUT
AND THINK IT'S BEEN A DECADE
BUT A LOT OF FUN TOO.
>> COME BACK AND TALK TO US
WHEN THIS OPENS.
IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE
HOW THAT FEELS, TO SEE THAT GO.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
>>> WE WILL BE RIGHT