How long is the viaduct in Seattle?
The double-decked freeway ran north–south along the city's waterfront for 2.2 miles (3.5 km), east of Alaskan Way and Elliott Bay, and traveled between the West Seattle Freeway in SoDo and the Battery Street Tunnel in Belltown . The viaduct was built in three phases from 1949 through 1959, with the first section opening on April 4, 1953.
What will happen to the viaduct after the replacement tunnel?
Starting in January 2019, following the opening of the replacement tunnel, the viaduct will be demolished over the following months to make way for new development along the waterfront in downtown Seattle.
When was the Alaskan Way Viaduct replaced?
Alaskan Way Viaduct. The initial phase of demolition and removal of the southern viaduct began on October 21, 2011. Boring of the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel by the tunnel boring machine " Bertha " began in 2013 and was completed in 2017; the tunnel is anticipated to open in fall 2018.
What happened to the viaduct in San Francisco?
The viaduct officially closed on January 11, 2019, attracting spectators and drivers who caused it to miss the 10 p.m. deadline. Demolition of the northbound ramp on Railroad Way began the following day in preparation for the excavation of pre-constructed ramps into the new tunnel.
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Why is Alaskan Way Viaduct demolished?
The rocky mementos were free. The removal of the viaduct allowed WSDOT to proceed with redevelopment of the waterfront along Alaskan Way. New planned features included a 20-acre park and public space, a promenade and bike path, an overlook walk connecting Pike Place Market to the waterfront, and a new seawall.
When was the Seattle viaduct torn down?
2019Alaskan Way Viaduct / Destruction dateThe southern mile of the viaduct was demolished in 2011 as part of the Holgate to King Street Project. Crews began demolishing the remaining span in January 2019 and the final piece was removed in November 2019.
Why did Seattle remove the viaduct?
The viaduct, which was considered seismically vulnerable following the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake, was removed from Seattle's waterfront as a part of a new program to transform that part of the city. Some traffic has already been moved to a deep new SR 99 tunnel, and a new Alaskan Way surface street will be built.
What will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct?
The south portal to the new State Route 99 tunnel is now open to traffic, replacing the seismically vulnerable Alaskan Way Viaduct along the Seattle waterfront.
How long until the West Seattle Bridge is fixed?
SEATTLE — It's a day more than two years in the making. The day residents of West Seattle have been waiting for. The West Seattle Bridge will reopen to traffic on Sept. 18, 2022.
Are there tunnels underneath Seattle?
The Seattle Underground is a network of underground passageways and basements in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. They were located at ground level when the city was built in the mid-19th century but fell into disuse after the streets were elevated.
Why are there no sidewalks in Seattle?
To understand why Seattle lacks this much pedestrian space, you have to go back to 1954, when the city annexed 10 square miles of unincorporated King County to expand its northern border. King County did not have the same sidewalk development requirements as Seattle, and the city never prioritized building them.
Why did Seattle ban houseboat rentals?
The Future of Seattle's Shoreline According to SDCI and the Washington State Department of Ecology, houseboats pose a threat to water quality because they typically handle graywater—which is water from sinks and showers, but not toilets—by discharging it right into the water around them, like most regular boats do.
Why are Seattle bridges floating?
Lake Washington is far too deep for a traditional bridge, so engineers had to get creative –creating the largest floating bridge in the world. The area has since outgrown the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge and so the SR-520 Seattle Floating Bridge project was born.
Is Big Bertha still stuck in Seattle?
Tunnel boring was completed on April 4, 2017, and the finished tunnel opened to traffic on February 4, 2019. Practically none of Bertha's components were reusable, and most of its steel was melted and recycled. The final, disassembled pieces of Bertha were removed from the tunnel portal in August 2017.
Who objected to the Alaskan Way Viaduct?
The Seattle City Council objected, voting 6-3 to put two alternatives on a March 2007 advisory ballot: a new elevated highway or a four-lane shallow tunnel. Gregoire then said she wanted to hear what voters thought, clarifying, “I will never, ever say that a vote of the people is a waste.”
Did Canada help build the Alaska Highway?
It has been 75 years since the Alaska Highway — the most expensive World War II project taken on by the United States government, in cooperation with the Canadian government — was completed.
When did the Seattle Fault last rupture?
about 1,100 years agoo The most recent Seattle Fault earthquake was about 1,100 years ago; o The Seattle Fault has been active about three or four times in the past 3,000 years. Deep quakes are the most common large earthquakes that occur in the Puget Sound region.
What happened to the Seattle Pier?
SEATTLE — Construction began this week on the new Pier 58 on the Seattle waterfront two years after the old structure collapsed. The former Pier 58, also known as Waterfront Park, was removed in spring 2021 after significant deterioration led to its collapse in September 2020.
What caused the Seattle Fire of 1889?
On June 6, 1889, at about 2:45 p.m., what became known as the Great Seattle Fire started when a pot of glue burst into flames in a small cabinet shop on Front Street (today's 1st Avenue).
How did Seattle burn in 1889?
At approximately 2:20 pm on June 6, 1889, an accidentally overturned glue pot in a carpentry shop started the most destructive fire in the history of Seattle.
When was the Alaskan Way Viaduct built?
The original construction began in February 1950 and was officially completed in 1966 with the opening of an onramp at Columbia Street. The viaduct's central portion, from Pioneer Square to just north of the Pike Place Market at Western Avenue, opened to traffic on April 4, 1953, followed by the christening of the Battery Street Tunnel on July 24, 1954, linking the viaduct to Aurora Avenue and points north on State Route 99. A southern expansion of the viaduct to Spokane Street opened in 1959.
When was the Alaskan Way Viaduct decommissioned?
On November 21, 2019 , demolition work is completed on the decommissioned Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle. The final concrete and steel columns at the north end of the viaduct, which have remained in place near the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad tracks, are taken down. This work follows the removal of the final remaining horizontal section of the elevated highway at Marion Street two months earlier. With the removal of these sections, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) concludes a demolition project that began on February 12, 2019.
How wide is the Alaskan Way?
The two highway decks each carried two to four lanes measuring as narrow as 9 feet 6 inches (2.90 m) wide, with northbound traffic on the upper deck and southbound traffic using the lower deck with a vertical clearance of 14 feet (4.3 m). The viaduct was 60 feet (18 m) tall, had 3-foot (0.91 m) concrete railings, and was supported by 400 columns spaced approximately every 51 feet (16 m).
What happened to the Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland?
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake destroyed the similarly designed Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland, California, with the loss of 42 lives. The 2001 Nisqually earthquake damaged the viaduct and its supporting Alaskan Way Seawall and required the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to invest US$14.5 million in emergency repairs. Experts gave a 1-in-20 chance that the viaduct could be shut down by an earthquake within the next decade. Since the Nisqually earthquake occurred, semi-annual inspections have discovered continuing settlement damage.
What is the Seattle viaduct?
The viaduct expanded from four lanes to six lanes and turned northwest as it followed Alaskan Way and the city's waterfront on the west side of Pioneer Square; the area underneath the viaduct was used for street parking between construction periods. It passed east of the state ferry terminal at Colman Dock and reached a set of ramps serving downtown traffic: the Columbia Street onramp to the southbound lanes and the Seneca Street offramp from the northbound lanes. The waterfront section of the viaduct was noted for its scenic views, which include Elliott Bay, the distant Olympic Mountains, and the city's skyline. Between the Seattle Aquarium and Pike Place Market, the double-decker viaduct ended as SR 99 split into a pair of side-by-side elevated lanes that traveled over the north portal of the Great Northern railroad tunnel and under Victor Steinbrueck Park. SR 99 then came to an interchange with Elliott and Western avenues, which marked the north end of the viaduct and the south end of the four-lane Battery Street Tunnel. The Western Avenue crossing included a notch in the southbound railing of the viaduct, which was cut out to pass around a column of the Seattle Empire Laundry Building.
How long is the Alaskan Way tunnel?
On January 12, 2009, the governments of Washington, King County, the city of Seattle, and the Port of Seattle announced that they had agreed to replace the viaduct with a four-lane, 2-mile (3.2 km) long tunnel.
When was the Great Northern Tunnel demolished?
Demolition of the viaduct began on February 15, 2019, after being delayed by several days due to a severe snowstorm. Contractors began with the upper deck and its columns, followed by the lower deck in a section-by-section process. It was originally scheduled to be completed by June 2019, but a compressed schedule caused by the tunnel's delayed opening caused demolition to take longer than expected and conflict with the summer tourism season. Demolition work reached the 50 percent milestone on June 11, with the Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market sections left for the final stages. The final double-deck section of the viaduct, including the Marion Street pedestrian bridge at Colman Dock, was demolished in late September 2019. The final section of the viaduct, removed in November 2019, was over the northern portal of the Great Northern Tunnel near the Pike Place Market.
What is the West Side Highway?
West Side Highway, a former elevated freeway along the West Side waterfront in Manhattan that was partially replaced with an at-grade boulevard.
What freeway was demolished in San Francisco?
Embarcadero Freeway, a former elevated freeway along the waterfront in San Francisco that was demolished.
The Teardown
As Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct is torn down, the lives of those living in the orbit of the structure are changing radically.
The Teardown
Video description: Architect David Miller has lived his entire life in proximity of Seattle’s Viaduct. As a child, he traveled its concrete decks with his family and in his adult life he has peered out over the elevated highway from his office at work and his downtown apartment.