May 2015

Peter Opsahl has travelled to Kathmandu, Nepal to assist in disaster recovery efforts after the devastating earthquakes in the region.

Peter is volunteering his time and expertise to assist the Global Fairness Initiative with a program to inspect homes and buildings damaged in the earthquakes.

We’re all very proud to support him in this effort.

Construction is now underway on one of our more unique projects. Lund Opsahl has provided construction support services to assist with the “top down” construction of a subgrade parking structure for a new mid-rise tower project in Bellevue.

In a reversal of the typical process, the contractor will be pouring the upper floor of this garage first, then soil below the slab will be excavated down to the next floor level – repeating for all eight levels of the garage. This process allows each slab to brace the permanent shoring walls and eliminates a need for tie-back shoring systems on the restricted site.

In an effort to minimize schedule for basement construction, and to gain valuable laydown area in an urban site, our team designed a temporary steel framed structure between the building caissons at grade level that supports the concrete formwork tables below from threaded rods. Suspending the formwork from above allows excavation to proceed while the deck is being tied prior to casting. This process allows the formwork tables to jump down as soon as the deck has been stressed minimizing cycle time.

Our client, Sellen Construction, has set up a webcam that allows us all to view the current progress and time-lapse videos of the project.

This month’s issue of Seattle Magazine contains a feature on Pike Station. We’re proud to have worked on this award-winning project.