Massive light rail drill surfacing on Capitol Hill
Mar 20, 2012, 1:59 PM | Updated: Mar 21, 2012, 7:07 am
A massive drill is expected to surface on Seattle's Capitol Hill Tuesday evening after 10 months underground. (WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
A massive drill has surfaced at Capitol Hill’s future light rail station after 10 months below ground.
The tunnel boring machine, which is 400 feet long and 21
feet in diameter, has made way for a future light rail
system which will bring passengers from Seattle’s
University District to downtown.
“As it’s digging out the earth in front of it, it’s
digging the actual tunnel behind it,” said Sound Transit
Spokesperson Bruce Gray. “At the same time, we’ve had
another machine that’s made it from Capitol Hill to
downtown. It’s gone underneath I-5 and the whole south
part of Capitol Hill, essentially.”
Gray said the new line will get commuters from downtown to
the university campus in around six minutes.
“There’s nothing that can top that.”
Construction crews will now begin work on another phase of the project, which will include building stations and installing rails.
The University Link Project is scheduled for completion in
2016.
