Cracked

The vibrations and pounding from adding pilings to the state Route 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington have possibly caused some of the buildings in nearby Madison Park to crack. Canterbury Shores (2500 Canterbury Lane E.) is one of the buildings suspected of being damaged by the construction. 

Don Morgan is a resident and the property manager of the 91-unit condominium building. The condos range in price from $300,000 to $700,000, with one double-unit that comes in at more than $1 million. The structure was built 45 years ago on pilings and a cement slab. 

Most of the damage is on the fourth floor of the building. The condos and hallways on that top floor have stress cracks that have been getting bigger and wider as construction continues. The cracks are in the walls, along the ceilings and windows and at stress points. One unit, on the second floor, has a cracked window. Right now, there are about 10 total units with reported damage. 

“I’m kind of hoping this is just superficial and just in the paint,” Morgan said, noting there is some damage that obviously goes beyond just the surface. In many cases, it’s difficult to tell, but Morgan and the residents have seen the damage worsen. 

Other buildings nearby have experienced problems, too. The building next door had a water main break after construction started, Morgan said. 

Assessing the damage

Before construction on SR 520 began, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) surveyed about half of the units, taking photos of existing damage to compare with any damage found after construction ends. As soon as the work began, residents were reporting damage, Morgan said. 

WSDOT knew there would be impacts to the buildings nearby, said Dave Becher, WSDOT floating-bridge construction and engineering manager — that’s why the agency did the initial survey on the units. 

When the pile driving and removal is done, about mid-April, WSDOT will resurvey the damage, Becher said: “We wanted to make sure if we did cause any damage, [we could] identify it.” 

When WSDOT did that initial survey, only about half of Canterbury Shores’ 91 units granted access to their condos. That doesn’t necessarily exclude them from compensation of new damages, though, said WSDOT design and project engineer Kirk Wilcox. In all of the units surveyed, there was pre-existing cracking, Wilcox said, which makes assessing damage a bit trickier, but WSDOT should be able to decipher which cracks are new. 

“It would not preclude payment or repairing the cracks if they were identified by us,” Becher said. “The baseline [study] just makes it a lot easier.”

The construction contract set two different vibration thresholds, Wilcox explained. The first is a warning threshold that lets workers know there may be building damage, and the second stops work immediately. WSDOT has monitors in place that will sound alarm if they get close to those levels. So far, they haven’t come close to either level, Wilcox said. 

WSDOT also installed vibration monitors along the properties and on the buildings. 

It’s not uncommon to see damage like this, especially when the buildings are so close to the construction activity, Becher said. Factors like soil conditions and the type of building play a role in how much damage occurs. Just like in earthquakes, the paint in buildings will crack along joints and edges, he said. 

There are a few other buildings farther down the shoreline whose residents have expressed concerns but have yet to report any cracks, Wilcox said. 

Recently, Canterbury Shores hired its own set of engineers to assess if any permanent damage was done to the building. The private engineers and WSDOT didn’t come to any conclusion, Morgan said; they’ll wait until construction is done to properly assess things. 

“These stress fractures are easy to fix and not very expensive, compared to if there’s any structural damage,” Morgan said. 

There’s really no way to tell yet whether the construction has damaged the building’s structure or its foundation. The cracks in the units appear to be cosmetic right now, Becher said. 

WSDOT will also assess the frontline of the property to see if the buildings moved at all. Becher doesn’t anticipate that will be the case. 

The cost to repair any damage would be incurred by the contractor or WSDOT through compensation or settlement, Becher said. 

Being good neighbors

WSDOT has been good about only pounding during daytime hours, Morgan said. The residents with units facing the construction also experience lights shining in at night, while the construction workers pour concrete. 

“So that’s a little bit annoying,” Morgan said. “And then, of course, the vibrations during the day bother some residents.”

In the last few weeks, the pounding has been minimal, Morgan said. 

Only about half of the Canterbury Shores residents are upset about the damage, Morgan estimated; the rest understand that there’s not much they can do. 

“When you’re talking about a $6 billion bridge, compared to doing $10,000 worth of damage, it’s not a whole lot,” he said. 

Despite the ongoing construction, Morgan hasn’t had a difficult time keeping the building full; all but one unit is occupied. A fourth-floor condo facing the construction just sold and is waiting for its new owner to move in. 

“It’s not hard to sell anything in Seattle right now,” Morgan said, laughing. “This is probably comparable to the boom eight years ago: You can sell anything in Seattle; you can rent anything in Seattle. There’s just nothing for sale and nothing for rent.”

At some point, WSDOT crews will remove parts of the existing structure, which will cause more vibrations and noise. During other parts of the project, other areas could see similar noise and vibration impacts to the ones these Madison Park neighbors have seen. 

Morgan praised WSDOT, saying it has been very responsive and has given residents a number to call to make complaints. 

Becher said he realizes this is a place where people live and are impacted by the noise and vibrations of construction. 

“Nobody likes to be impacted where [they] live,” he said. “We want to be good neighbors.” 

Wilcox echoed that, saying Morgan and the other Madison Park neighbors have been supportive and understanding: “It’s great to work with the community when they’re as understanding as they can possibly be.” 

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