Concrete hauling and disposal in Kirkland

Kirkland lists temporary use of the right of way, including dumpsters, among the common projects that need a permit. Its Public Works Policy G-10 (last revised January 2018) sets the terms. A dumpster can be permitted in the right of way only if the activity is construction related, for a maximum stay of one week, and the permit comes from the Public Works Development Engineering Group.

The same policy says PODS and other storage containers are not allowed in the right of way at all, and that the city does not provide barricades or other traffic control devices. Before allowing anything in the street, Kirkland asks whether the activity can be done off the right of way. Where parking is time-regulated, the Public Works Transportation Group has to be involved first.

For a concrete job, a week is usually enough if the pile is broken and sorted before the bin arrives. Plan for the bin to be filled and gone inside that window, not to sit while the slab is still coming out.

King County code requires construction and demolition debris from jobsites in King County outside Seattle to go to a designated facility. That rule applies to mixed loads: C&D recycling that is mixed together, or mixed with waste.

Materials separated at the jobsite are treated differently. The county says sorted materials such as wood, metal or wallboard can go to other recyclers, and the same logic covers a pile that is nothing but concrete. County code also lists concrete among the readily recyclable materials banned from the landfill.

The county enforces this. Its designated-facilities page says violators face an initial $100 fine, $500 for a second violation, and double the previous fine after that. So the cheapest load is a sorted one.

King County's Houghton Recycling & Transfer Station is in Kirkland and serves people who live or do business in the county's service area. It has one of the county's tighter vehicle limits: a combined vehicle and trailer length of 25 feet, against 40 feet at the larger stations. A long pickup towing a trailer can exceed that.

The county takes small loads of construction debris at its stations only from vehicles without mechanized dump beds, and never from dump trailers. No piece can be bigger than 2 by 2 by 2 feet or heavier than 200 pounds. A load has to be secured so nothing can slide, shift or blow out, or the county charges a $25 unsecured-load fee.