West Seattle Bridge: An even higher 146-foot-tall structure for ultra-large container ships?

West Seattle Bridge: An even higher 146-foot-tall structure for ultra-large container ships?

 The latest proposal would… 

·         require a complete tear-down of the existing support columns -- 

·         cost an additional $146 million for construction -- 

            (“A new West Seattle Bridge could be even higher than the current span”, Seattle Times (9/28/20) (p.A-1).

Less than the new extended height = a draw bridge – the very traffic flow restriction that tall bridges are supposed to eliminate.  

If there were ever a logical remedy for a free flow of intersecting car and ship traffic, it is the Ortblad immersed tube tunnel – the equivalent of a grade separation underpass.

With a projected 150-year life, the same tunnel that has faithfully served Vancouver, British Columbia since 1956 – the George Massey Immersed Tube Tunnel carrying 80,000 vehicles per day – can be ours for a fraction of the cost of the proposed replacement high-rise structure that would again be seated in the unstable loose alluvial soil awaiting the inevitable earthquake.

Or we can go ahead and build another high-rise bridge, again made out of cement that history shows will crack, deteriorate and fail in a matter of 36 years. 

For an overview of Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore coverage of other Highway Design issues, go to www.keithkesslerlaw.com and www.stritmatter.com.