SEATTLE — State and city analysis shows the ground started to settle once the Washington State Department of Transportation Bertha tunneling project began extracting water underground two years ago.
“We believe with the settlement that occurred, (WSDOT) is obligated to pay for that,” said Jon Layzer, Seattle DOT Deputy Director. “But that is a disputed item.”
The water main replacement project is behind schedule and is now slated to be finished by the end of November. All parties agree the work is critical and must continue, but they're now in a dispute resolution process hoping to avoid court.
“It's very expensive to take things to court,” said Gavin Patterson, SPU interagency manager. “And usually nobody is that satisfied with the result.”
Temporary pipes are being installed now with the permanent 24 inch pipe going in starting in August. So customers will experience water outages at times for a few hours at a time. Seattle Public Utilities says this new pipe being installed will be able to withstand more settlement and even seismic activity.
For now, the city is paying for the project expecting the state will pay them back.
KIRO
