Kenmore Undressed

A Good Neighbor, A Huge Project: Brightwater

A recent aerial shot of the Kenmore Brightwater Portal.

I live very close to the Kenmore Portal of the Brightwater Treatment System on 80th Avenue NE. After driving past the project for the last two years my curiosity got the best of me and I asked King County if I might visit the site. I don’t know about you , but I’m fascinated with public works projects, especially those that are visionary and necessary. As you may know, Brightwater has been the subject of huge controversy in King County. Most of the criticism has focused on cost, environmental impact and feasibility. I’m going to leave those debates up to others for now. My reason for talking to the county about the Kenmore Portal was to reach out to the site managers, say hello, and find out how things are going. I was pleasantly surprised.

I recently had a chance to speak with David Freed from the county and Derek Dugan, the Project’s Resident Engineer. Frankly, I had no idea how complex the project is, nor was I prepared for the education I received. Both David and Derek were very generous in explaining the various aspects of digging a 14-mile long tunnel. There’s a lot to talk about: from the machinery that actually does the digging, to the way in which the various contractors, governmental agencies and communities have worked together on the project. The next photo shows the location of the actual portal where the tunnel boring machines were launched:

Currently there are 110 laborers and 35 engineers working on the project in three shifts (24 hours a day). When I met with David and Derek they explained that the tunneling machines, named “Helene” (heading east) and “Rainier” (heading west) had tunneled 2000 feet and 300 feet respectively. On a good day the machines can bore about 60 linear feet. When I asked them what goes on “down there” they promised to send me a picture that would explain it all. Here it is:

The tunneling machines are, in fact, long train-like factories which process tons of earth and stone. They also manufacture the concrete sheathing of the tunnel itself. It’s an amazing process.

I would like to thank David and Derek for inviting me to the site trailer for an interview. I will be writing more about our important and interesting neighbors in the near future.