Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Project is a political lightning rod, but this amazing simulation video released by WSDOT underscores what COULD happen if a significant earthquake struck the Seattle Downtown Waterfront area.
Project Related
The Claremont Tunnel – Designed to Survive Fault Rupture on the Hayward Fault
The Claremont tunnel beneath the Berkeley Hills on the east side of Oakland is a water supply tunnel that serves over 800,000 customers in Richmond, Oakland, San Leandro and neighboring communities. One of the unique things about the tunnel is that it crosses the active Hayward Fault. Most of the time when you talk about designing for earthquakes you’re talking about designing to withstand the seismic forces. In this case, the designers needed the water transmission tunnel to withstand up to 7.5-ft of offset due to fault slip and still maintain a minimum level of service. (Photo credit: Sue Bednarz, Jacobs Associates, Inc. by way of Civil Engineering Magazine)
This post describes the relatively recent Claremont Tunnel Seismic Upgrade Project as reported in Civil Engineering Magazine (May 2008, v. 78, no. 5, pp 58-63, 96-97).
Available Resources
Cool 4D Video Simulation of Groundwater Contamination Plume Migration
This video from RockWare shows a 4D Google Earth tour of a simulated groundwater contamination plume migration created using several tools in their RockWorks software package.
Available Resources
Judge dismisses Alaskan Way viaduct tunnel lawsuit
A federal judge in Seattle dismissed a lawsuit Friday aimed at stopping construction of a tunnel replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Judge John Coughenour said the people who brought the suit in September hadn’t […]