Engineering Services

The Engineering Services Division of the Public Works Department is primarily responsible for the administration of the county’s Transportation Improvement Program, planning and implementation of the Capital Improvement Plans for the county’s water, sewer, solid waste, and stormwater utilities.
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Construction Engineering

The Construction Engineering section is responsible for the oversight of all Public Works Capital Construction projects. This includes project inspection, materials testing and contract administration. We work closely with the design section, utility companies, contractors and citizens during the construction process. This section also performs annual condition inspections of existing county bridges.

Engineering Design

The Engineering design team is responsible for the planning and design of public works projects for the department. In addition, the design team provides technical support to the solid waste, water and sewer utilities, roads maintenance, parks and other county departments. Each unique project requires the team of environmental coordinators, planners, engineering technicians and engineers to strike an often delicate balance between the technical, legal, environmental and financial needs unique to each project. Projects rely on a variety of funding sources, including federal and state grants, solid waste fees, water and sewer utility rates and stormwater utility rates.

Development Review

The Development Review group reviews and inspects all land use projects to ensure compliance with the Road Standards, Drainage Design and Erosion Control Manual, Utility Ordinance, Uniform Building Code and other county ordinances. The division is also responsible for ensuring that all road construction projects within the unincorporated county are constructed in compliance with the approved project plans and all applicable county ordinances. Development Review is located on the second floor of Building 1 in the Thurston County Courthouse complex at 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW, Olympia, WA 98502-6045.

Real Estate Services

This division is the keeper of road files, deeds, plans, and related records for documentation verifying county ownership of right of way width. We process road vacations which release the county’s interest in right of way which is not being used. We also issue Access Permits for the private use of right of way when appropriate. We are responsible for the acquisition of properties and property rights necessary for county projects. We also process applications for Utility Franchise which enables utilities to receive permits to use the county right of way

Survey

The Survey Section provides support to all of the county departments for any land surveying needs that they may require. Our responsibilities include topographic mapping of future projects, construction staking on current county projects and boundary surveys on properties owned by the county. We also review all boundary line adjustments, short plats, large lot subdivisions, plats and records of survey submitted to the county for processing. In addition we locate corners set by the Bureau of Land Management and maintain a database of these corners for use by the county, other government agencies and the public.

Transportation

The Transportation Section designs, operates, and maintains traffic control devices on public roads in unincorporated Thurston County (except state highways). Our primary areas of responsibility: traffic signs, signals and lighting, traffic studies, traffic data collection, speed limits, neighborhood traffic calming, road classification, transportation planning, transportation engineering and project development.

Staff Information