CHOKEPOINTS

WATCH: Drone video shows progress on Bertha’s tunnel in Seattle

Oct 20, 2017, 11:02 AM | Updated: 1:43 pm

Bertha may have been torn apart, but the work continues on the tunnel under Seattle. A new video from the Washington State Department of Transportation shows just how far along the project is coming.

RELATED: Watch Bertha break through to the surface

The video was taken using a drone passing through the tunnel.

Tunnel progress

As of October 2017, the only parts of the tunnel that are completely finished are the corbels — the pieces that hold the walls and roadways in place. Other portions, built on top of the corbels are coming along.

bertha tunnel

The corbels shown in brown, inside the tunnel. (WSDOT)

  • Launch pit: 96 percent
  • Northbound walls: 94 percent
  • Southbound roadway: 85 percent
  • Southbound west walls: 72 percent
  • Southbound west walls (upper half) and east walls: 45 percent
  • Disassembly pit: 5 percent

As MyNorthwest previously reported, the Alaskan Way tunnel won’t just be a passageway; it will be a living, breathing machine once it is completed. A web of interconnected pumps, lights, vents, and other systems will keep the traffic flowing. Work on those systems is also underway:

  • Hangers (NB): 74 percent
  • Hangers (SB): 12 percent
  • Lighting (NB): 60 percent
  • Lighting (SB): 3 percent
  • Mesh and fire proofing (NB): 68 percent
  • Fire suppression (NB): 42 percent
  • Mesh and fire proofing (SB): 12 percent
  • Fire suppression (SB): 3 percent

You can find an interactive map of the Alaskan Way project here.

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WATCH: Drone video shows progress on Bertha’s tunnel in Seattle