Pier 4 Pile Driving to Continue Throughout February

By Mark Edward Nero

Contractors have received permission from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the US Army Corps of Engineers to continue driving piles for Pier 4 in the Tacoma Tideflats through Feb. 28 as part of an ongoing pier reconfiguration project.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance, which is the marine cargo operating partnership between the Seattle and Tacoma seaports, is reconfiguring Pier 4 on the General Central Peninsula to align with an adjacent pier to create one contiguous berth capable of serving two 18,000-TEU container ships. The improvements are expected to support larger container cranes and vessels.

The current pile driving is expected to continue from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends through the end of the month.

Manson Construction of Seattle began driving the first of 1,241 piles in September. After the fish migration season, pile driving is expected to resume mid-July 2017, with all pier construction to be completed in 2018 in time for the arrival of new, larger cranes.