By: Travis Mayfield
KOMO-AM 1000
January 31, 2009
.wav file. Story aired during late afternoon and evening drive time, Friday.
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
ANCHOR: "With today's 4.5 magnitude earthquake, some are wondering how a tunnel could be any safer than the current (SR 99 Alaskan Way) Viaduct. KOMO's Travis Mayfield has the answer."
TRAVIS MAYFIELD: "As earthquake waves move out from the epicenter, they're often amplified when they reach the surface, depending on the kind of soil or type of building. The current Viaduct, for example, can wave, buck or even jolt violently. But 100 to 200 feet down?"
JOHN WHITE (Program Director, Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project, Washington State Dept. Of Transportation): "The (planned deep bore) tunnel would move, gently, with the soil at that depth, which wouldn't be moving anywhere near the extent it would be moving at the surface."
TRAVIS MAYFIELD: "John White manages the Viaduct replacement project for the state, and tells me it seems counterintuitive, but:"
JOHN WHITE: ..."that is, by far, the safest place to be."
TRAVIS MAYFIELD: "White says the tunnel is being designed to withstand even an earthquake so strong it would be as rare to only strike once in every 2,500 years. In Seattle, Travis Mayfield, KOMO 1000 News Radio."
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ADDITIONAL INFO.:
WSDOT: No Comparison Between Planned Deep Bore Tunnel And Boston's 'Big Dig," Tacoma News Tribune, 1/26/09.
Excerpt: "(WSDOT Deputy Sec. David) Dye said the cost of a bored tunnel is now pegged at $1.2 billion on the low end and $2.2 billion on the high side. Hence, the Department of Transportation is comfortable with the $1.9 billion estimate. Part of the appeal of a bored tunnel is that it would not disrupt traffic on the existing viaduct, which now carries about 110,000 cars and trucks a day. The tunnel would start in the vicinity of the Mariner and Seahawk stadiums and emerge at about Denny Way and Harrison Street, reaching depths of up to 250 feet in places.
Dye devoted a portion of his presentation to why Seattle’s tunnel would not turn in a “Big Dig,” a waterfront tunnel project in Boston that started out as a $2.8 billion project but is now pegged at $22 billion. The Big Dig was 8 miles; this one is 2.8 miles. The Big Dig has three tunnels; this one has one tunnel. The Big Dig has a total of more than 161 lane miles; this one has less than 13 miles (the Seattle tunnel will have four lanes). Also, the Seattle tunnel will have only one agency in charge, the Department of Transportation, whereas the Big Dig had a consortium of governments running the project, he said."
