Cutting Through the Challenges of a Long Drive

This paper will discuss the construction of nearly 165 m (540 ft) of 3.5. m (138 in) o.d. reinforced concrete pipe to replace an existing utilidor under the Duwamish River in Seattle, Wash. The project required that two 27.4 m (90 ft) deep shafts be installed for use as jacking and reception shafts during the tunneling operation, and permanent vaults once completed. Soil conditions to be excavated consisted of soft saturated sand and silt with a 21.3 m (70 ft) water head. This required the shafts to be constructed using ground freezing techniques and the tunnel installed by pipe jacking, using a Mechanical Earth Pressure Counter Balance (MEPCB) slurry shield. The original utilidor was constructed between 1924 and 1925, and has since been deliberately flooded because it is considered to be structurally unsound.