Alaskan Way Viaduct
Photos
Aerial View Of Alaskan Way Viaduct, Which Starts At Left Of Rail Yards, Becomes Double-Deck Viaduct Close To Coast Guard Yard Just Above Rail Yards, And Proceeds Along Shoreline Up Into Middle Of Picture.
Photo taken by Historic American Engineering Record
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #197283
Description
This concrete viaduct carries three lanes in each direction of WA 99 on two decks. It has widely been considered an ugly eyesore along the waterfront, but provides drivers with great views of Elliott Bay, Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.It was significantly damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake and is at risk of collapsing in another major earthquake. In 2009--after years of debate over the design of its replacement--an agreement was reached to replace it with a bored tunnel under Downtown Seattle, which is scheduled to be complete in 2018.
Part of the viaduct on the south end was demolished in 2011 to make way for construction of the south tunnel portal, with traffic temporarily re-routed around the construction site. The rest of the viaduct will be demolished in 2018.
Facts
- Overview
- Double-deck stringer bridge running parallel to Alaskan Way along Seattle waterfront
- Location
- Seattle, King County, Washington
- Status
- Demolished 2019
- History
- Built 1953; rehabilitated 1957; replaced 2010-2019
- Builders
- - George Stevens (Bridge Engineer - WSDOT)
- MacRae Brothers (Contractor)
- Morrison-Knudsen Co. of Boise, Idaho (Contractor)
- Ralph W. Finke of Olympia, Washington (City Engineer - Seattle)
- Ray M. Murray (Engineer)
- Design
- Concrete stringer
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 63.0 ft.
Total length: 10,704.6 ft. (2.0 mi.)
Deck width: 40.0 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +47.60127, -122.33593 (decimal degrees)
47°36'05" N, 122°20'09" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/549917/5272198 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Seattle South
- Average daily traffic (as of 2016)
- 32,112
- Inventory number
- BH 48615 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
- Inspection report (as of March 2018)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 92 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- August 2, 2020: New photo from Patrick Gurwell
- April 16, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
- November 10, 2017: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
- October 24, 2017: New Street View added by Matthew
- January 13, 2014: Updated by Evin Fairchild: adding more info to the description
- January 12, 2014: Updated by Evin Fairchild: adding and correcting info
- April 12, 2011: Added by K. A. Erickson
Related Bridges
- Battery Street Tunnel (Same project) - Connects to Alaskan Way Viaduct
Sources
- K. A. Erickson
- HAER WA-184 - Alaskan Way Viaduct and Battery Street Tunnel, Seattle, King, WA
- WSDOT Viaduct Replacement - Project Info
- Dana and Kay Klein
- Richard Doody
- Patrick Gurwell - pgurwell [at] gmail [dot] com
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/wa/king/bh48615/
The Alaska Way Viaduct was closed to traffic at 10:00 PM PST, Friday, January 11, 2019. The current schedule calls for demolition and removal of the structure to be completed in 2023.