Boeing breaks ground on new 777X wing facility

Boeing is celebrating the groundbreaking of its new 777X Composite Wing Center at the Everett facility.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said Tuesday the new production plant is proof of the airplane-maker’s commitment to the Puget Sound region.

“We are going to invest more than $1 billion just in the construction of this facility,” Conner said. “And I think what that says is how much we’re not only committed to the Boeing Washington workforce, but also to the region here in the Puget Sound.”

The 1-million-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in May 2016, after an estimated 3.5 million hours of work done by as many as 1,200 contract employees.

The 777X carbon-fiber wing constructed in the new building will be the longest in the world, at 114 feet.

“That wing is so massive that it will be built with folding tips so that it could meet the standards of airport gates around the world,” said Senator Maria Cantwell, who joined other dignitaries to turn dirt on the project.

Boeing said the new facility will require 31,000 tons of steel, 480 miles of electrical cable, 80,000 linear feet of process piping, 530,000 cubic yards of fill material, and 170,000 tons of concrete.

So far, Boeing has 300 orders and commitments for the new 777X. First delivery is scheduled for 2020.

KIRO Radio’s Tim Haeck contributed to this report.