Our infrastructure is failing us. Rebuilding more of what we already have will set us up to fail again. There is a better way to do this. Let's build the West Seattle Bridge out of local, renewable timber. 

Seattle’s Green New Deal and SDOT’s New Mobility Playbook establish expectations for transformative infrastructure solutions and solicit ideas and support from the community at large. Here is ours.

Sustainable, locally sourced mass timber is a renewable resource that sequesters carbon, reduces costs, is safer and more efficient to build, and can last for 100+ years.

A mass timber solution for the West Seattle Bridge delivers economic, societal, and environmental advantages:

+ Sequesters carbon, with a 100+ year lifespan

+ Puts Seattle on the map for fueling an economy based on renewable resources

+ Generates well-paid jobs and strengthen local labor pool

+ Revitalizes the Washington State timber industry

+ Prefabricated steel and timber manufacture and assembly significantly compresses schedule and reduce cost

+ Light-weight mass timber maximizes ability to reuse existing foundation, reducing cost and waste

+ Maximizes safety & minimizes risk: visible components can be easily monitored and replaced over time

+ Creates a higher standard of design for infrastructure

+ Local materials strengthen connection to place – Seattleites are happier around wood

+ Biophilic design with natural materials promotes well-being

 

For more information and to see the full proposal, click here.

“The Green New Deal presents the opportunity to not only achieve a fossil fuel-free future for Seattle, but an equitable City where all are not only welcomed, but are valued, protected, and supported to thrive.”

Seattle City Council Endorsement, “Seattle for a Green New Deal”, June 2019