Boeing kicks off construction of 777X wing factory

by GLENN FARLEY / KING 5 News aviation specialist

KING5.com

Posted on August 13, 2014 at 7:31 PM

Updated yesterday at 7:31 PM

EVERETT, Wash. Boeing executives, along with state and local officials including Governor Jay Inslee, knocked holes in the wall of a one-story office building built to house engineers who once designed the first 767.

The holes are real, but the sledge hammer whacks were largely ceremonial as they marked the official start of construction of Boeings massive composite wing factory for the new 777X airliner.

But while the company plans to tear down three buildings - one of which dates back to the design of the first 747 in the 1960s - work has already started.

In what was a large parking lot next door, heavy earth-moving equipment is already at work performing site preparation for the 1.3 million square foot factory that should be opened in 2016. What is to be called the Composite Wing Center should start producing its first part in 2017.

Boeing says some 90 dump trucks are making round trips every day, hauling some 70 loads of dirt into the site every hour to help level out the site. Some 80,000 cubic yards of dirt have been moved so far.

While some 190 construction workers are busy now, their ranks will swell to as many as 1,500 when construction is in full swing. Fourteen construction cranes will appear on Boeings Everett campus.

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Boeing kicks off construction of 777X wing factory