Starting as early as April 4th, Fremont Place may be reduced to one-lane of traffic (westbound) while Seattle Public Utilities does important work taking core samples, drilling 6-inch diameter holes up to 170 feet deep, intended to influence the design of the elongated storage tank being built for the Seattle Combined Sewage Overflow.
The geotechnical drilling rig will be located in the westbound, curb lane, of Fremont Place North, just before the intersection with Evanston Avenue, near the Lenin Statue. The workers will maintain access to the alley and the parking behind the Doric Lodge, however a couple of street parking stalls in front of Sinbad Express may be unavailable 24-hours, for the 4 or 5 days of work. The parking will be used for staging for the work being done 9a – 4p, so that the work crew can mobilize quickly and complete the testing as quickly as possible.
This work will help with design and placement of underground storage, intended to keep untreated sewage and storm water out of public waterways. Read about this long-term project in the Fremocentrist.com column from last September. Also, watch an introductory video on YouTube.
Similar core samplings are being done at other points along the potential route of the storage tunnel, including one last month behind 9 Million in Unmarked Bills another at NW 41st Street & Leary Way, and another coming to Leary Way NW & NW 40th.
The Ship Canal Water Quality Project team has evaluated and analyzed the areas to find ways to minimize the impacts these core samples will make. This work will help with designing the storage tunnel, and the depth to which it will be placed.
Find more information on this through the SPU project website.