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November 23, 2015

SPU lays water main under Western Ave.

Photo by Benjamin Minnick [enlarge]
Crews are installing about 1,400 feet of new line between Yesler Way and Spring Street.

Crews from Frank Coluccio Construction are making their way north along Western Avenue replacing a 110-year-old water line that was at risk of breaking because of ground settlement.

Seattle Public Utilities earlier this year issued an emergency contract to Coluccio after surveyors found the 20-inch-diameter cast-iron main had sunk one inch. Crews are installing about 1,400 feet of new line between Yesler Way and Spring Street.

The project will cost about $11.2 million, including contingencies.

SPU project manager Ross Hathaway said the city is talking with WSDOT about who is responsible for the cost.

A survey map released by WSDOT about a year ago showed the ground had settled about a half-inch in the southern area where crews are now replacing the water line. There is less settlement to the north.

Seattle Tunnel Partners, WSDOT's contractor building the replacement tunnel for the Alaska Way Viaduct, started dewatering the area near Alaskan Way South and South Main Street last year as part of the effort to rescue the broken down tunnel machine named Bertha. The latest restart date for Bertha is Dec. 23.

Hathaway said the new water line is 24 inches in diameter and can safely deflect more than a foot, allowing it to withstand earthquakes better than the old pipe. He said new pipe is being installed in the original alignment because the ground below is congested with other utilities.

Bertha will be about 100 feet underground when it passes under Western Avenue and the new pipe.

Coluccio's crews are now working between Columbia and Spring streets, and should have the entire project mostly finished by March.

A temporary water line has been serving nearby buildings since July.

CDM Smith is the project's civil engineer.




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