Nothing wrong with a tunnel there. It wouldn't be bored, it would be cut and cover. Dig a ditch, insert concrete tubes, cover it up again. They build similar things across Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, or the BART tubes under San Francisco Bay. They just sink the concrete tubes, connect them up, then drain the water from inside when they are done.
While it's good to consider the structural integrity of the landscape I still think it's overlooked that by digging we remove the landfill that everyone is so concerned about, while rebuilding the viaduct continues the problem of placing a massive amount of weight on a precariously tiny footprint on top of the same landfill that everyone is so concerned about.
Although, my only problems with the tunnel are a.) "Tunnel Light" doesn't have enough capacity for even current demand, b.) (in my opinon) it's going to cost a lot more and take longer to build than they think it will, and c.) I don't like tunnels - or overpasses, for that matter. They just give me the creeps. Which is not a good argument against the tunnel - I know. :)
No digging. In both cases the tubes just sit right on top of mud on the bottom of a saltwater bay. Our waterfront tunnel would be dug out then the sides reinforced with concrete. The stability comes from the construction itself not the soil it sits on.
For our tunnel, don't forget there is a bored tunnel through really soft and wet soil for freight trains just a block away. The Burlington Northern tunnel has been in operation for over a hundred years now, built with year 1900 technology.
There is no engineering problem with a waterfront tunnel. It's strictly financial and political.
...which I wouldn't be surprised to find were caused by backseat driving and "cost-cutting" measures.
Actually, this is the one thing that might convince me that a tunnel isn't a good idea -- because Seattle is too full of citizen-micromanagers and political point-scorers to let a large public project be done the *right* way, instead of "some vague approximation of right as long as it doesn't offend anyone"... I half expect that the current viaduct won't actually be replaced until the next sizable earthquake takes it down, just because Seattle will never agree on *how* it should be replaced, and whatever option gets chosen will be subject to interminable reviews and second-guessing and recalls...
That micro-managing is why a new viaduct is doomed to be a turd as well. Any ideas to mitigate the ugliness and noise will be penny-pinched away. A new viaduct will just be huger, uglier, and noisier and it won't have the views people keep saying they like.
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Really, the problem isn't boring vs. cut & cover - it's the issue of digging at all.
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Although, my only problems with the tunnel are a.) "Tunnel Light" doesn't have enough capacity for even current demand, b.) (in my opinon) it's going to cost a lot more and take longer to build than they think it will, and c.) I don't like tunnels - or overpasses, for that matter. They just give me the creeps. Which is not a good argument against the tunnel - I know. :)
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For our tunnel, don't forget there is a bored tunnel through really soft and wet soil for freight trains just a block away. The Burlington Northern tunnel has been in operation for over a hundred years now, built with year 1900 technology.
There is no engineering problem with a waterfront tunnel. It's strictly financial and political.
Reply
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Actually, this is the one thing that might convince me that a tunnel isn't a good idea -- because Seattle is too full of citizen-micromanagers and political point-scorers to let a large public project be done the *right* way, instead of "some vague approximation of right as long as it doesn't offend anyone"... I half expect that the current viaduct won't actually be replaced until the next sizable earthquake takes it down, just because Seattle will never agree on *how* it should be replaced, and whatever option gets chosen will be subject to interminable reviews and second-guessing and recalls...
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