The Great Northern Railroad

This is the north portal of the mile-long railroad tunnel that runs under downtown Seattle. It was built by Great Northern Railroad in 1905 by two teams working continuously around the clock. In less than two years of digging they met in the middle.

As Bertha labors painstakingly along under the waterfront (6,197 of 9,270 feet completed) you wonder how that tunnel was constructed so quickly over 100 years ago?

Here's a summary from the History Link website:

An advance crew of expert miners tunneled ahead first, making a shaft eight feet high and six feet wide. Next, crews working about 100 feet back from the advance crew dug debris from the sides of the tunnel and made temporary walls of timber to protect the crews removing the core debris. Finally a permanent roof was installed and the entire length of the tunnel was lined in concrete. During construction the tunnel was lit with electric lights and ventilated with large electric fans. Small electric trains removed the loose dirt from inside the tunnel. Large electric shovels transferred the accumulated dirt to gondola cars where it was transported to the King Street Station building site and used as fill.

I've been working with historic collections at the MOHAI Archives for years, but I'm still amazed at the industry and determination of the Seattle pioneers.  Of course back then natural resources were considered unlimited. And Environmental Impact Statements? Ha.

The 100-year old tunnel is still in use. Trains carrying up to three million gallons of highly flammable crude oil run several times a day right under downtown Seattle. According to Seattle fire officials, the tunnel does not meet modern safety standards and lacks emergency fire suppression systems, emergency communications, adequate train staffing, built-in ventilation, safe access for first responders and flame-fighting foam.

No one knows how a fire burning so much oil underground would affect the the city above.  At the very least, the entire downtown would have to evacuated.

However, the City of Seattle has almost no authority over oil trains or the tunnel. So it is pushing for state and federal policy changes to require BNSF Railway to make safety upgrades and to pay for those upgrades.  Good luck on that.