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From: Alaskan Way Viaduct
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Subject: Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program
Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program

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This program is led by the Washington State Department of Transportation in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, King County, City of Seattle and the Port of Seattle.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program News

April 4, 2012

In this issue:

SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct to close this weekend, April 6-9.
Preparing to tunnel beneath the viaduct.
Public events coming this month to Pioneer Square.

SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct to close this weekend, April 6-9

Crews will close the State Route 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct this weekend to reinforce a section of the structure located above the path of the future SR 99 tunnel.

Both directions of SR 99 from the West Seattle Bridge through the Battery Street Tunnel will close from 11 p.m. Friday, April 6 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 9. Drivers should expect increased congestion in and near downtown Seattle during the closure and plan accordingly.

Our map (pdf) shows recommended routes to the waterfront, Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square during the closure. Visit our website for a complete list of construction closures. Real-time traffic information is available at www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic or by dialing 511.

Preparing to tunnel beneath the viaduct

Crews building the SR 99 tunnel will spend this weekend reinforcing both decks of a two-block section of the viaduct between South Washington and Columbia streets, in Pioneer Square. There will be one additional weekend closure of the viaduct in mid-May to complete this work, which includes filling cracks and wrapping previously damaged sections of the structure in protective reinforcing fiber. Protecting this section of the viaduct is important because crews will drive the tunnel boring machine beneath it in late 2013.

Currently being manufactured in Japan, the boring machine will launch from the construction area west of CenturyLink Field in mid-2013. It is designed specifically for the soil and groundwater conditions along the tunnel route. After digging its way north beneath Alaskan Way, the machine will pass as close as 20 feet below the viaductâ€™s foundations. By comparison, members of Seattle Tunnel Partners, WSDOTâ€™s contractor for the project, successfully bored a tunnel within six feet of the foundations of a famous cathedral in Spain in 2010.

Although tunneling crews do not anticipate significant levels of ground settlement, they are monitoring utilities and structures above and near the tunnel route as a precaution. In addition to this weekendâ€™s reinforcement work, crews are building underground walls beneath the viaductâ€™s foundations to further protect it during tunneling. The walls consist of a row of steel pipes installed at an angle between the foundations and the tunnel. This creates a barrier to limit ground movement.

Public events coming this month to Pioneer Square

We are hosting several events this month at Milepost 31 (211 First Ave. S.) that youâ€™re not going to want to miss. Please join us:

April 5, 6 p.m. â€" April marks the beginning of our spring speaker series! This monthâ€™s speakers are Linea Laird, Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program administrator, and Chris Dixon, Seattle Tunnel Partners project manager. Linea and Chris will talk about the projectâ€™s extreme engineering, and how it will change the SR 99 corridor.
April 11 (7 to 9 a.m.) and April 12 (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) â€" State and City outreach staff will be on hand to answer questions about significant traffic changes that will affect Alaskan Way and the roadway under the viaduct in May. Join us to learn more about these changes and impacts to parking, as well as the things weâ€™re doing to keep Pioneer Square vital during construction.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program links
Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program
SR 99 South Holgate to South King Street Project | SR 99 Tunnel Project
Current Construction | Public Events | Contact Us

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