Today’s Viaduct/tunnel pit update from WSDOT: No new ‘significant settlement’; no voids under King St. crack

One week has now gone by since WSDOT disclosed new “settling” of, and near, the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the hole being dug to reach the Highway 99 tunneling machine for repairs.

After the ensuing week of various updates, discoveries, and concerns, today’s update is out, and in it, WSDOT says “to date, no significant settlement has been observed beyond the initial settlement we reported publicly on Dec. 5. The viaduct remains safe for travel.” The update also says that so far, ground-based radar hasn’t shown any “voids” under the crack scrutinized on King St. in Pioneer Square on Thursday. (E-mail from WSDOT to reporters adds, “The crack in the middle of King Street has been there for some time, as seen in a Google Maps picture from 2011. Given the absence of prior settlement data on this particular street, it may take a while to fully understand what may have caused pavement to shift.)

Meantime, the City Council‘s agenda for next Monday morning has been revised to start with WSDOT execs’ updating the council on the “settling” at 9:30 am, followed by a 9:50 am discussion with state and city officials about what would happen if the Viaduct had to be closed, short term or long term. The agenda section for the latter item includes this existing document that discusses closure in the context of an earthquake.

15 Replies to "Today's Viaduct/tunnel pit update from WSDOT: No new 'significant settlement'; no voids under King St. crack"

  • JanS December 12, 2014 (7:39 pm)

    My son-in-law works in the Merrill Place Bldg, on 1st between Jackson and King, west side of street, and today they were told their bldg. has settled 2 “. That seems like a lot.

  • Smitty December 12, 2014 (7:59 pm)

    BD2

  • wsn00b December 12, 2014 (8:16 pm)

    Oh noes! A crack in the road. They should compare that to cracks, ruts and settling in other roads in Seattle that are laughably unsafe with cracks, ruts and potholes.

  • Seattlite December 12, 2014 (9:11 pm)

    When is logic and common sense going to surface with the mayor and city council? The tunnel project is Seattle’s biggest stinker yet. Where’s the leadership from Inslee on this colossal blunder?

  • pupsarebest December 12, 2014 (11:49 pm)

    Seattlite, that is what characterizes a boondoggle—in the face of all common sense and logic, the wrong thing(s) continue to be done.
    “Bertha” will come to epitomize the term “boondoggle”.

  • west seattle codger December 13, 2014 (7:37 am)

    In all of this furor over the de-watering I began to wonder, and the information may be in the coverage so I may have missed it, but how much water is being removed? Where is it going? Is it being run through the sewers for treatment? Is it going through the storm drains and directly into the Bay? What kind of contaminates, if any, are in there? What is the Dep’t. of Ecology have to say?

  • cjboffoli December 13, 2014 (8:48 am)

    west seattle codger: Having been down in the tunnel site myself I can tell you that water (and infrastructure to deal with water) is everywhere. When I asked him about the water, and if the source was from the land side or from Elliott Bay, Seattle Tunnel Partners Project Manager Chris Dixon told me that his assessment was that most of the water they deal with is ground water, not coming from the bay. So conceivably that is untreated ground water that always has been flowing down the hills of downtown and into Elliott Bay in some way or another (joining the hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated storm water and sewage that the City of Seattle discharges into Elliott Bay and Puget Sound every year).
    .
    Dewatering was always part of the tunnel construction plan, which calls for “water pumped out of the tunnel construction zone to be either reinjected back into the ground or discharged into the combined sewer system” (WSDOT). Water quality is being monitored and if contamination is detected, the water is treated (with equipment located to the south of Coleman Dock) before being directed into the sewer system.

  • quiz December 13, 2014 (9:31 am)

    @pupsarebest I’d hardly classify this as a boondoggle. Boondoggles are easy. This endeavor, not so much.

  • Thomas M. December 13, 2014 (12:47 pm)

    Anybody else seen the medium horrible holes in the southbound slow lane of the I-5 bridge? I saw it yesterday and these things look very deep. There are about a dozen pits. Yeesh.

  • Mark47n December 13, 2014 (3:37 pm)

    Just a reminder, this project is not a city project, it’s a state project so, blaming the city for it is ridiculous. Also, blaming the state project administrators for mechanical issues with the equipment is also ridiculous.

    As to ending construction to save money, forget it, the money’s been spent so may as well carry on, repair Bertha, if it’s possible. At least we’ll get something for the money rather than nothing.

  • west seattle codger December 13, 2014 (3:51 pm)

    Thanks for the information cj I was wondering because of the pit, unplanned, and the sheer volume. I had figured it was from the landside and not from the bay because I’d heard no mention of salt water. I was simply curious about the amount, the rate it’s being pumped and where it was going. Water quality is an issue given the unknown factor. I had hoped the state had been monitoring it but hadn’t seen any data.

  • RayK December 13, 2014 (7:06 pm)

    The tunnel design-build project is the contractual responsibility of the Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) for both the design and build phases. Neither WSDOT nor Seattle are responsible for the costs or delays (yet). Both WSDOT and Seattle are responsible for monitoring the site and impacts on the surrounding neighborhood which they are doing. Monday WSDOT and applicable Seattle departments are presenting a status report to the City Council with an unknown agenda.
    I’m not a lawyer, yet I wouldn’t expect WSDOT to step in to direct the STP operation which would likely make taxpayers culpable in any adverse outcomes. They must continue monitoring the dewatering impact and raise a red flag when it’s gone too far. How far is that? We may know Monday. Watch/Listen to the Council meeting beginning at 10:15 Monday.

    See http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/35FAE5C0-C79F-496D-9354-DEC2E4E98819/0/SR99BoredTunnel_STP.pdf to learn about the Seattle Tunnel Partners.

  • RayK December 13, 2014 (7:47 pm)

    Correction to reference to the Monday City Council meeting agenda. It begins at 9:30, not 10:15.

  • WSB December 13, 2014 (8:07 pm)

    That’s what we have had in our story since we published it last night. 9:30 am is the settling briefing, 9:50 am for the “what if we have to close it?” discussion. I would suspect the times might run at least a bit over. – TR

  • Bertha DeBlues (@BerthaDeBlues) December 15, 2014 (2:28 am)

    Need my morning boat of coffee to get through this early mornin’ meeting.
    @BerthaDeBlues

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