18th Street Interchange / I 205

Oct 19, 2016 | by Lisa Schaefer

A part of the Governor’s 2007-2009 proposed budget, the I-205 – Mill Plain Interchange to NE 18th Street – Build Interchange – Stage 2 Project “improves safety and mobility in the east Clark County area by constructing a new I-205 northbound off-ramp and southbound on-ramp at NE 18th Street.”

Primary engineering began in 2006 and the new interchange opened to traffic on July 20th, 2016. According to WSDOT, this section of highway carries an average of 100,000 vehicles daily (passenger and freight), with traffic volumes increasing. The goals of the project are congestion relief and safety improvements. More info on the project can be found at the WSDOT website.

Long Painting Company provided painting services to Cascade Bridge, LLC, of Vancouver WA, in the construction of these new traffic features.

For Long Painting, phase 1 of the project began in April of 2015, we provided surface preparation and coating of steel column jackets that were installed at NE 9th Street and NE 18th street. The WSDOT QPL Sherwin Williams Corothane 1 system was used on column jackets and steel portions of the project.

The Corothane 1 system consist of:

• Corothane 1 Galvapac 1k Zinc Primer
• Corothane 1 IronOx B
• Corothane 1 HS Aliphatic

Long Painting returned in the Fall of 2015 to paint the remaining column jackets and begin pressure washing and sealing small portions of the newly installed concrete traffic barriers. All new concrete surfaces on this project required the application of the WSDOT QPL Pigmented Sealer as manufactured by Sherwin Williams. The sealer protects the concrete by providing a waterproof barrier. Also, due to its great color retention, it provides a uniform look over all of the surrounding concrete. All parties were pleased with the results.

The remainder of the project began in January of 2016 and carried on until July. This work included painting the steel girders and cross frames on the underside of the southbound on-ramp at NE 18th Street. This work was done out of manlifts and had up to 5 employees working on it at one time. At the same time, the remaining concrete surfaces needed to be pressure washed and sealed. The total amount of concrete that required sealing was in excess of 235,000 square feet.

Long Painting performed this project on schedule, under budget, and is proud to have served the citizens of Washington and Oregon who use this interchange regularly.