Glumac, under contract to JH Kelly, provided comprehensive commissioning services for the Replacement Tunnel project on the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Glumac provided commissioning services for the systems serving both the tunnel itself and the operations buildings at each end. The data for each of these facility process systems travel through the central supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, which centralized all functional testing on the project.

The replacement tunnel carries approximately 110,000 vehicles per day to their destinations and allowed for demolition of the previous viaduct structure, which was part of the transformative Seattle Central Waterfront redevelopment process.

The replacement tunnel was bored with the world’s largest tunnel borer (nicknamed “Bertha,” after Seattle’s only female mayor, Bertha Knight Landes), which featured a 57.5 foot diameter, weighed 900 tons, cost $80 million.

Commissioned Systems

• Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing
• Building automation
• Illumination
• Ventilation
• Drainage
• Fire suppression and smoke control
• Toll readers
• Signage
• Carbon monoxide
• Communication systems, including telephone, cellular phone,two-way radio and AM/FM radio
• Intelligent transportation systems, including a video-based detection system, used for detection of traffic that causes slowdowns or blockages, and CCTV

Awards

• ENR Northwest 2019 Highway/Bridge Best Project Award

Size: 4-lane, 2 miles long
Construction Cost: $4.25 billion
Start / End Date: 2012 – 2019
Architect: HNTB Architecture (part of Seattle Tunnel Partners joint venture team)
Design / Build contractor: Seattle Tunnel Partners (Dragados USA and Tutor Perini Corp. joint venture)
Owner: Washington State Dept. of Transportation
Services: Commissioning

Image courtesy of WSDOT/Wikicommons