SEATTLE — State transportation officials say Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct will reopen for the Monday morning commute. That’s an earlier than expected reopening of the Highway 99 through downtown Seattle, which was closed for 10 days as a giant tunneling machine dug underneath it.
The Washington State Department of Transportation says the tunneling machine known as Bertha finished its work under the viaduct early by tunneling around the clock.
The tunneling machine is digging a replacement for the viaduct, an underground tunnel along Seattle waterfront.
Structural engineers inspected the viaduct on Sunday and found the ground remained stable during the digging 15 feet below the viaduct’s foundation.
Contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners had estimated tunneling under the viaduct would take about two weeks.
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