Tag Archives: voids

BH in the News

Sound Transit purchasing property affected by voids

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Sound Transit is spending nearly $500,000 to purchase a home on the brink of one of the notorious “voids.” BHB news partner The Seattle Times has the story:

Christine Miller-Panganiban discovered a 21-foot-deep hole in her yard, at 2605 18th Ave. S., in March 2009. She and her husband, Rommel Panganiban, will receive $400,000 for the house, $11,350 for giving work crews access to the property and $65,000 compensation for stress.

Sound Transit will be seeking to recover expenses such as this from tunnel contractor Obayashi Corporation. Read more in The Times.

Getting Around

S. Lander Street to be closed for void remediation work

Sound Transit is continuing subsurface void remediation work near Beacon Hill Station, including drilling within the right of way on South Lander Street. For about a month, Lander will be closed between 17th and 18th Avenues South, with a one-block detour to either South Waite Street or South McClellan Street. There will be flaggers to assist drivers. The work will be done between 7:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Friday, and there will be heavy equipment and support vehicles operating in the area during these times. The street will remain closed overnight and potentially over weekends.

Drilling will also continue to take place on private properties on 17th (if you haven’t already been contacted by Sound Transit, your property isn’t included).

Jennifer Lemus of Sound Transit sent us this useful information for the folks who live on South Lander: “Normally the sanitation trucks travel east (down the hill) on S. Lander St. to pick up trash/recycle/yard waste. Our contractors will be happy to bring your trash cans up to 17th Ave S so there is ease in pick-up and less of a chance for a missed pick-up. Cans will also be returned to your property. We have communicated this to Waste Management as well.”

If you have any questions or concerns about the project, contact Jennifer Lemus, Sound Transit Community Outreach, at 206-398-5314 (work), 206-423-1407 (cell), or at Jennifer.Lemus@soundtransit.org.

BH in the News, Getting Around

Tunnel voids pit contractor against Sound Transit

The tunnel “voids” affecting properties above the Link Light Rail tunnel path through the hill continue to be identified and addressed. From an article in the Engineering News-Record:

Crews have filled in about 80% of nine voids leftover from a 2-mile tunneling job through Seattle’s Beacon Hill. Japan’s Obayashi Corp. did not discover the voids while boring the parallel, 1-mile tunnels as part of its $280-million contract, which has since increased to $312 million. Owner Sound Transit contends the contractor is at fault.

. . .

“We put Obayashi on notice that we think this is an avoidable situation, and the cost is going to be withheld from its final payment,” Gray says. Sound Transit has spent $1.6 million filling the voids.

“The adequacy of the geotechnical data supplied by Sound Transit and the actual behavior of the ground during construction are under discussion with Sound Transit,” says Obayashi spokeswoman Carmen Stone.

And they’re not quite done yet: Sound Transit estimates about 430 cubic yards remain left to find and fill. Read the rest of the article at ENR.

via DouglasReiser on Twitter

Getting Around, Health and Safety

Sound Transit continuing work to fill “voids” near Beacon Hill Station

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Many neighbors living east of Beacon Hill Station received a flyer (PDF) from Sound Transit this evening, describing the current status of the “voids” discovered when digging the Beacon Hill tunnel. Last year, nine sub-surface voids were found and filled with a controlled-density fill, and the ground at the bottom of the voids was injected with grout to stabilize it.

According to the alert sent out by Sound Transit today, there are still about 400 cubic yards that need filling, but the voids aren’t large or near the surface, and Sound Transit believes that there is no imminent danger to property nearby.

Sound Transit’s next steps are to work with local property owners and their neighbors to coordinate work to fill the voids. They expect the project will take about four to six months.

A Seattle Times (BHB partners) article contains further information on the project, including a very good description of how the voids are formed.