Sound Transit U-Link making progress
Written by jrood
Sound Transit's University Link is moving forward n the Seattle area. At the Capitol Hill Station, more than 40 percent of the excavation for the station box is now complete. A conveyor system is now in place to transport the excavated spoils to the surface. The contractor is currently building a temporary bridge over the station excavation at approximately Denny Way within the construction work site. Trucks and other construction vehicles will use the bridge to move around the work site. A number of existing utilities will also be suspended below the bottom of the bridge in order to allow the utilities to span the station box excavation.
Artist Cameron Larson is
creating a mosaic of Capitol Hill icon Chris Harvey (a.k.a. ‘Slats’) on the
construction wall surrounding the station and he needs your help. His art
project needs over 8,000 bottle caps.
At the UW Station
construction, more than 25 percent of the slurry wall construction is now
complete. Sound Transit and the UW are working to ensure the construction
activities do not interfere with fans’ enjoyment of the game Washington Huskies
football games. On game days the contractor stops work, extra signage is
installed around the site, and police officers are brought on to help direct
fans and traffic near the stadium.
At this station October 4-6,
Sound Transit’s contractor will be closing part of the sidewalk on the west
side of Montlake Blvd. near NE Pacific St. This closure will allow the
contractor to install the utility settlement monitors that will help keep track
of the soil conditions around the construction site.
University Link is the
3.15-mile extension of light rail from downtown Seattle to the University of
Washington. U-Link includes twin-bore tunnels and two stations, one at Capitol
Hill (Broadway and East John Street) and the other on the University of
Washington campus near Husky Stadium. Local tax funding for U-Link was approved
by voters and the project also received an $813 million Federal Transit
Administration grant. Construction of U-Link began in early 2009 and will
continue over the next six years. Passenger service is scheduled to begin in
2016.
