06 October 2011

Mapping the progress under Capitol Hill

Currently there are three TBM, Tunnel Boring Machines, digging 21 foot diameter holes through the hill i live on. Sound Transit has a page with the most current (generally monthly) project update. However, it shows the distance in feet that each machine has dug, there is no map, no clue exactly where the machines are. I've asked Sound Transit to provide that kind of page, but they have not. And, in fact, they seem to be a little worried about people knowing where the machines are. They insisted for the first 2 months that they had not started digging under the Montlake Cut, until one day they suddenly announced that they had completed the tunnels under the canal. The tunnel is less than one tunnel diameter below the bottom of the water!

Since i plotted the route of the tunnel on a USGS map when they first released the route, i figured today that i could plot the progress report too. So here are three maps that show the locations, according to the Sept 27 progress report, of each Boring Machine.

Brenda is digging from Broadway and Denny to Pike & 9th. (There will be a second run for Brenda to dig the second tunnel.)

Balto & Togo are digging from the University Station to Broadway and John.
Balto

Togo

In addition, that progress report page is dynamic. It only shows the most current update and i could not find any way to read previous updates. (So if you're reading this in the future, that link will not show you the data i was working from). I will try to post maps every time they release a new progress report, no promises though.

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