Editorial: SDOT needs a more honest evaluation of a submerged tube tunnel

Submerged tube tunnel portions are built at the nearby facilities, then floated in position and sunk in place in a trench dug at the bottom of the river. Weatherproof seals join the parts and the water is pumped out. Then the parts are covered with backfill and rocks. This process is simple and quick and the resulting tunnel sections are seismically safer than the bridge.

FemernAS Drawing

Mayor Jenny Durkan,

Submerged Tube Tunnel (ITT) is the fastest (3-4 years), least expensive, most environmentally sensitive, earthquake resistant, and is the only solution to accommodate the light rail to reconnect West Seattle.

Mayor, please contact our British Columbia neighbors. After ten years of study, Mayors of Metro Vancouver and First Nations leaders have chosen ITT on a high-profile bridge to cross the new Fraser River. Their engineers determined that the ITT cost versus the bridge was roughly equal, but they considered ITT a better solution.

Mayor, please call Port of Long Beach, California.

Last week, the port opened a new high-level two-mile bridge. This bridge spans a 400-foot canal. The vortex canal is 500 feet wide. Designing this Long Beach Bridge took 10 years and building it with $ 1.5 billion was over $ 550 million in the budget.

At the Citizen Task Force meeting last Wednesday, Greg Ezo of SDOT presented a cost-benefit analysis of a submerged tube tunnel (ITT). He stated that the construction and maintenance of a tunnel would be very costly, but he did not present any actual costs, only a vague comparison with a new bridge. He then mentioned that ITT would take 10 years to design and build, and it would only last 75 years. He claimed that such a project would need dredging toxic materials, and it would be difficult to secure funding for it, and SDOT has no idea how to maintain ITT. None of this is true, except that SDOT does not understand ITT.

The estimated completion date for ITT for SDOT 2030 is 7 years very long. ITT could be completed in 2023 three years before a new bridge is constructed in 2026. ITT can be designed and have the right-of-way within one year. Almost all of the land needed is ownership in the Port of Seattle. The ITT design is simple, just oversize concrete channels anchored inside a trench at the bottom of the river. ITT can be built, in which the old bridge is either repaired or replaced.

The Fraser River ITT in 1959 is four and a half times longer, again deeper than the eddies of ITT and was built in just two years. The Netherlands has built 30 ITTs, Japan has 25 ITTs, and China has built dozens in the past decade. ITT is a proven cost-effective solution for smooth soil, earthquake-prone crossings.

SDOT said ITT has a lifespan of 75+, but ITT already has a lifespan of 120 to 150 years. SDOT consultant for cost benefit analysis is WSP Engineering. WSP has just completed ITT in Norfolk, Virginia, and it will run 120 years on its website.

SDOT claims ITT will require dredging of toxic substances. However, the Port of Seattle and Corp of Engineers maps show the ITT as clean as the EPA does. The Port of Seattle plans to dredge 1 million cubic yards of whirlpool for Terminals 5 and 18. ITT requires dredging of approximately 135,000 yards compared.

SDOT claims ITT may have difficulty securing funding. Rep. Parmaela Jayapal stated that federal funds depend only on a good solution, bridge or tunnel. An ITT solution may be a more attractive, innovative pilot project. Studies show that the lighting and ventilation of such a structure can operate with alternative energy.

SDOT did not include light rail in any of its options. The ITT option is the only option that can accommodate the light rail, and it is one of the Citizen Task Force’s highest priorities.

SDOT ITT gave an unfair environmental score of zero on the “Trait Performance” chart. There will be a huge improvement in ITT on the Eddy River. Any bridge would be a massive overhead structure shadowing whirlpools, with a constant roar of traffic. You will not see, hear or even smell ITT. ITT will also provide access to the shoreline to develop the parks by opening more land along the river.

ITT can be built in half the time and at a lower cost than the new bridge, which should be much larger than the existing bridge and be constructed to much higher earthquake resistance standards.

SDOT needs an honest evaluation of ITT solution.

Bob Ortblad MSCE, MBA

Some useful links

My original ITT research is now being considered for building under the Columbia River.

ITT Columbia River

Mayors and Heads of First Nations write to the Prime Minister calling for the dissolution of the diamond tunnel.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/massey-tunnel-replacement-mayors-first-nations-premier-1.5110479

The replacement price for the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach jumps by more than $ 200 million.

Price tag to replace Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach jumps by more than $200 million

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