Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, has begun work on two construction projects totaling about $16 million, one here in Spokane and the other in Tacoma. 

The first, which began in April, involves the $5.9 million construction of a combined sewer overflow tank here at 517 N. Lincoln, across the Spokane River from Spokane City Hall.  

Garco spokeswoman Katie Fitzpatrick says the project, includes building the 800,000-gallon storage tank, complete with mechanical and electrical systems, and also will involve excavation and embankment work, as well as extensive shoring or props to support the tank as it is built. 

The project is expected to be completed next February. 

Garco also is set to being work this month on the construction of a new Tacoma Amtrak Cascades Station. 

The new station is part of the Washington state Department of Transportation’s Cascades High-Speed Rail Program, a federally funded program designed to improve passenger rail throughout the Amtrak Cascades corridor in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia.

According to the DOT’s website, the station will be located in Tacoma’s historic Freighthouse Square and was designed in consultation with a citizen’s advisory committee and city officials. 

Fitzpatrick says prior to construction, Garco will demolish existing structures there to make way for the new building.

She says the $10.3 million project will begin by using structural steel and laminated timber beams to create the frame for the 10,500-square-foot building. 

The structure also will include a series of glass windows in what is known as a curtainwall façade, connecting to an outdoor pedestrian walkway with a glass canopy, she says.  

Fitzpatrick says the project is expected to be completed by next April.

Garco Vice President Hollis Barnett is serving as project manager. 

Barnett says of the Amtrak station project, “We expect this station to help improve rail service for the passengers as well as contribute to the revitalization of downtown Tacoma.”

WSDOT lists the station as part of its Point Defiance Bypass project, which is planned to reroute passenger trains through the cities of DuPont, Lakewood, and Tacoma in the south Puget Sound area, creating a faster travel route.

Upon completion, the station will serve WSDOT Amtrak Cascades trains and Amtrak’s Coast Starlight long-distance service. 

The transportation department anticipates completion of the Point Defiance projects will add two more daily roundtrips between Seattle and Portland, which will increase the total to six, which it estimates will reduce train trip travel time between the two cities by 10 minutes.