The American Council of Engineering Companies recently presented the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program with the 2019 Grand Conceptor Award, one of the top engineering achievement awards in the United States.
The $3.3 billion program included the construction of the 2-mile-long SR 99 tunnel under downtown Seattle. The tunnel carries a double-deck highway and is the largest diameter single-bored road tunnel in North America.
The award, which honors the nation’s best engineering project, is shared by the Washington State Department of Transportation and WSP USA, the program’s general engineering consultant.
“There are thousands of talented people who worked many years to make the replacement of Seattle’s seismically vulnerable Alaskan Way Viaduct a reality,” Brian Nielsen, program administrator, said. “They all share the credit for this prestigious award.”
The tunnel opened in February and set the standard for tunneling worldwide, Transportation Secretary Roger Millar said.
The next phase of the program is the demolition of the Alaskan Way Viaduct that formerly carried SR 99 along Seattle’s waterfront and replacing it with a street. The viaduct was seismically vulnerable.
After demolition is completed in July, the city plans to renovate the waterfront.
A total of 196 projects competed for this year’s Grand Conceptor Award.