Writings by Andrea Watts

I am a freelance writer/editor who specializes in covering forestry and natural resources issues. What I bring to each project are undergraduate degrees in English and forestry, a master’s degree with coursework in silviculture and science communication, and on-the-ground experience managing the family tree farm.

Category: Construction Project Profiles

  • Construction Equipment Guide May 8, 2018 With the piling work completed for the new Amtrak locomotive service facility, crews are now pouring its concrete foundation and installing the underground mechanical, electrical and utilities. Although the project is only 38 percent complete, construction is ahead of schedule. “We’re scheduled to turn over the building to Amtrak…

  • Construction Equipment Guide March 15, 2018 The five-year Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Whittier Bridge/I-95 Improvement project is now in its final six months. With the construction of the new Whittier Bridge complete, crews are removing the old bridge’s foundations from the Merrimack River and paving the new lanes on I-95 within the project corridor.…

  • Construction Equipment Guide December 6, 2017 On a sunny summer day at Oregon State University, before an audience of researchers and representatives from the construction industry, a Knife River-owned ready-mix cement truck poured a batch of concrete. By all appearances the concrete looked similar to concrete poured at a construction site with one notable exception.…

  • Construction Equipment Guide October 10, 2017 With the construction of the rail line on schedule and the field testing of the first train set for late fall 2017, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority’s (FWTA) TEXRail commuter rail project is meeting its target goal of beginning service in late 2018. And if the project forecast’s hold…

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  • Construction Equipment Guide September 26, 2017 In the west area of the Hanford Site’s Central Plateau, demolition is under way on a building that played a significant role in the United States’ weapons program history. From its production start in 1949 until its official shutdown in 1996, the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) was responsible for…

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  • Construction Equipment Guide March 20, 2017 After nearly three years of traffic and pedestrian detours throughout the city of Seattle’s historic waterfront, the Elliot Bay Seawall Project is nearing its anticipated completion in spring 2017. The project is a complete replacement from Yesler Way to Pine Street of the seawall’s early 20th-century design of old-growth…

  • Construction Equipment Guide January 23, 2017 Since its opening in 1963, the state Route 520 Bridge provided Seattle and Eastside residents a shortcut across Lake Washington. By the 1990s, its 1950’s design couldn’t accommodate the increased number of vehicles crossing the lake, resulting in lengthy backups during rush hour. Discussion to replace the bridge began…

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  • Construction Equipment Guide October 26, 2016 The Idaho State Police’s District 5 is one of two districts that doesn’t have all its divisions combined into one facility, but not for long. Construction of a new 23,300 sq. ft. (2,165 sq m) facility in Pocatello, Idaho, is under way, and following its grand opening in May…

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  • Construction Equipment Guide September 28, 2016 The pulp and paper industry may be traditionally associated with the production of pulp from wood for use in newsprint and other paper products, but there is an emerging pulp market that Solvay Chemicals is looking to capitalize on, and it’s the reason behind their $22-million expansion of their…

  • Construction Equipment Guide September 2, 2016 Since the I-5 Madigan Access Improvement project’s start in October 2015, drivers traveling the stretch of I-5 alongside Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) had to contend with nighttime lane closures while users of Berkeley Street had to navigate construction on the southbound off-ramp and across the Freedom Bridge. With the…

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