Sound Transit of Seattle, Washington, has announced that contractors have substantially completed civil construction of the Downtown Bellevue Tunnel (DBT) of the East Link Extension. The DBT will connect the East main and Bellevue Downtown stations when the East Link begins operations in 2023. The East Link extends light rail from downtown Seattle to downtown Bellevue and the Overlake area of Redmond, a total length of 14 miles with 10 stations.

Excavation and construction of the tunnel by Guy F. Atkinson / Clark Construction began in 2017 using the Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) and completed in 2018. Ongoing civil works have included installation of waterproofing, Final concrete lining, and now track and systems installation.

Gall Zeidler Consultants provided on-site SEM Support Services to the Contractor during construction of the 1,983 ft long SEM portion of the DBT.

For the complete Press Release by Sound Transit, visit this site. A video discussion completion of the Downtown Bellevue Tunnel with footage of the construction process is available here . If you are interested in GZ’s involvement with the project, visit our project page.