If you dumped the soil that will be removed to build Sound Transit’s Northgate Link Extension on the football field at CenturyLink, it would stand about 350 feet high. That’s nearly 100 feet taller than the stadium’s roof. Fortunately for football and soccer fans, the 756,000 cubic yards of dirt will head truck by truck to reclaim old gravel quarries in Snohomish and Yakima counties. And while crews are making good progress on tunneling and excavation, it will take about two more years before crews have all that dirt removed.
Above: Miners wait for an approaching delivery of concrete tunnel segments. The crew is standing in the tunnel boring machine which removes the dirt and builds the tunnel walls.
Meanwhile excavators have dug about 40 feet down at the Roosevelt Station site. Crews need to finish excavation before the tunnel boring machines arrive. At U District Station, crews are currently building a temporary bridge that will carry eastbound traffic on NE 43rd Street until 2017 while excavation and tunneling is under way.
Excavators have removed more than 40 feet worth of dirt from the Roosevelt Station site
A crew puts finishing touches on the installation of an underground electrical distribution line on Weedin Place NE.
After tunneling and excavation, another contractor will have a lot of work to do to build the new stations at U District, Roosevelt and Northgate. Riders will be able to use the extension by 2021.If you would like more information on Sound Transit’s Northgate Link construction, Sound Transit is hosting drop in sessions today and tomorrow. You can also visit the project website for more information or call the 24-hour construction hotline (888) 298-2395 with more immediate issues.
Wednesday, October 22
5-7 pm
Whole Foods front kitchen
1024 NE 64th St
Thursday, October 23
5-7 pm
Northgate Transit Center Bus Platform
10200 1st Ave NE