Waterfront taking shape

EVERETT – Major projects that have been talked about for years are finally under construction along the waterfronts in Everett and Mukilteo.

The Port of Everett projects, totaling more than $50 million for construction alone, include:

* A new marina for larger boats in the 12th Street area. The first part of the work includes using a clamshell dredge to bite off chunks of bottom sediment and place it on barges for disposal.

Kevin Nortz / The Herald Crane operator Tom Bond of Cathlamet looks down while dredging the future site of the 12th Street marina in Everett on Tuesday.

* Creating a new rail and barge transfer facility just north of Mukilteo, primarily to handle oversized containers with Boeing Co. parts that will be loaded on rail cars and taken up Japanese Gulch to the company’s Everett assembly plant. Warning to neighbors: Pile driving will begin either Friday or early next week.

* Replacing the bulkhead along 14th Street. Crews are almost done driving piles along the shoreline to replace a deteriorated section of bulkhead. The work is necessary before much can be done to redevelop the north marina with shops, condos, offices and public spaces.

* Some buildings have been demolished and more will go down soon to make way for the north marina redevelopment, a $300 million project.

The marina, which will create 150 new boat slips, should be completed by July, said John Mohr, port director.

“One of the pleasant surprises is that the mud they’re taking out has all tested clean,” he said.

That means the 300,000 cubic yards of dirt expected to be stripped off the bottom can be dumped in deep-water sites in Puget Sound, the least expensive means of disposal.

Dredge crews are expected to work around the clock.

Mohr said the marina docks will be assembled and floated to the site, then locked into place by driven piles.

The $14 million rail and barge facility north of Mukilteo also will involve a lot of pile driving. All the work in the water must be done in February to protect young salmon. Then workers will put the decking on the pier and work on land to complete the project.

In addition to driving piles, Manson Construction is bringing in loads of gravel to restore a beach, leveling it out and making it more receptive to plantings.

By the end of the year, the port also expects to be working on improvements of existing marine terminals that will allow it to install two cranes to handle more container cargo.

Asked why all the projects seemed to start around the same time, Mohr said it was mostly a coincidence due to the port’s ability to secure needed permits.

“It gives people the idea that we are constantly out there stirring the pot,” Mohr said. “It’s just that a number of planning processes just happened to coincide.”