Beacon Hill tunnel (Seattle)
Rail tunnels in Seattle, Washington, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beacon Hill tunnel is a public transit tunnel in Seattle, Washington, carrying light rail trains on the 1 Line under Seattle's Beacon Hill between Rainier Valley and SoDo just east of Interstate 5.[1] The Beacon Hill Link Light Rail station is approximately 160 feet (49 m) underground near the midpoint of the tunnel.
| Beacon Hill tunnel | |
|---|---|
Tunnel's west portal under an elevated portion of Interstate 5 | |
 Interactive map of Beacon Hill tunnel | |
| Overview | |
| Location | Seattle, Washington |
| Coordinates | 47.577°N 122.320°W |
| Status | Active |
| Start | SoDo, Seattle, Washington |
| End | Rainier Valley, Seattle, Washington near Mount Baker station |
| Operation | |
| Constructed | 2005–2009 |
| Owner | Sound Transit |
| Traffic | Link light rail (1 Line) |
| Technical | |
| Length | 1 mi (1.6 km) |
Tunnel clearance | 21 ft (6.4 m)[1] |
| Width | 21 ft (6.4 m)[1] |
Construction
Construction of the tunnel began in March 2005 and was completed in July 2009. Obayashi Corporation was the general contractor. The twin running tunnels were excavated with a tunnel boring machine (TBM) built by Mitsubishi, named the "Emerald Mole."[2] The station and crossover tunnels were constructed using the sequential excavation method (SEM), also known as the New Austrian tunnelling method (NATM).[3]
Several workers were injured and one was killed during construction of the tunnel.[4]
The tunnel was completed at a cost of $309 million, versus Obayashi's bid of $280 million.[5]
