Everett Community Transit Case Study

Project Description

The Everett Community Transit Station, one of the major transportation hubs for the busy Washington State city, required a full-service exterior pressure wash and a complete high-performance coating for each transit station.

Each station was to be isolated with fencing and tarp covers and then extensively power washed. Each station then required a thorough preparation process prior to the treatment of the high-performance coating. The high-performance coating was then applied to each transit station and the delineating yellow curve transit lines.

Challenges

Preparation was extremely time-consuming, most specifically the taping preparation required before beginning the painting process. Each station was treated as its own individual paint shop and was isolated, covered from every direction, and doubly secured during instances of inclement weather. Further time pressures were encountered as pressure washing, and yellow curve painting could not occur during operational transit hours. All work was therefore completed during the hours of 11pm-4am.

During implementation of the work, paint damage occurred due to inclement weather; wind, rain and temperature variances. Upon beginning, it was discovered that the station’s nameplate had undergone severe discoloration, which proved considerably challenging as silver is a particularly difficult color to augment, touchup and finish.

Disassembly of the station’s iconic towers was required to complete the project thoroughly. The tower’s antique build presented the challenge of removing screws that had become stuck due to considerably rusting. Two of the towers needed to be brought to the GNG shop every week to complete painting and this transportation had to be done carefully so as avoid any damage to the antique structures.

Finally, knowledge of a particular paint mix and application method was required in order to work with the special TNEMEC paint requested by the client.

Solutions

This project required an expert level of communication to ensure each component part went through smoothly. Staff utilized weekly planning meetings to ensure each team member was on the same page throughout every step of the process. Further, communication between GNG workers and transit staff was held as a high priority. Finally, GNG’s experience in high-performance coating proved critical to the success of the project as the team knew how to handle the specific TNEMEC performance paint.

Results

The project was completed well above the standards of the transit staff. The best finishing look was able to be applied to each of the transit stations, and the project was completed precisely on the client’s timeline.

Though the project presented many challenges, GNG was able to complete the job to a higher level of satisfaction than other companies could have performed under the specific and challenging circumstances.