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.

Chokepoints

Sound Transit budget deficit delays...

Chris Sullivan

Sound Transit looks to double cost of property acquisition, construction support services for West Seattle expansion

Sound Transit said it needs another $765 million to acquire property and prepare for the link extension to West Seattle, but the overall budget won't change.

15 minutes ago

sound transit riders pay...

Charlie Harger

Harger: Sound Transit’s radical new idea that riders should pay to ride

Discover Sound Transit's bold plan for riders to pay, set for a vote on Aug. 27. Is this common sense or a new challenge?

1 day ago

mukilteo hit-and-run fatal crash...

Jason Sutich

All lanes of southbound SR 525 reopen in Mukilteo after fatal hit-and-run motorcycle crash

All lanes of southbound SR 525 are fully blocked south of Beverly Park Road in Mukilteo following a fatal hit-and-run collision on Tuesday.

2 days ago

Deception Pass SR 20 closures...

Chris Sullivan

19 days of closures to start Monday on SR 20 near Deception Pass

WSDOT will activate temporary traffic signals on SR 20 at Campbell Lake Road. They will allow one direction of travel through the construction zone for 19 days.

2 days ago

Denny Way...

Paola Tristan Arruda, KIRO 7 News

Traffic patterns have changed on Denny Way as part of Route 8 project

One of Seattle’s busiest corridors has entered the final phase of a project designed to bring a new bus-only lane to Denny Way.

2 days ago

bellevue road closures...

MyNorthwest Staff

Drivers beware: Road closures hit I-405 in Bellevue this week

Drivers heading through Bellevue this week will want to plan ahead.

3 days ago

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