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February 27, 2003

A firm foundation for the second Narrows

  • Bridge caissons get outfitted with giant 'cutting shoes' to sink into the marine bottom.
    • By TERRY STEPHENS
    Special to the Journal

    giant cutting shoe
    Photo by Susan Reams/WSDOT
    Todd Shipyards crews work on a quarter piece section of a giant cutting shoe. A grid of four of these units will be on the bottom of each of the bridge's two concrete caisson foundations. The cutting shoes dig into the underwater soil.

    Seattle’s Todd Pacific Shipyards, with a long history of building ocean ships and car ferries, is playing a significant role in an underwater drama this time -- building the giant steel "cutting shoes" that will sink foundations for the two 510-foot-tall towers of the second Tacoma Narrows Bridge.


     
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