Temporary water pipes installed to avoid water shutoffs at Ship Canal Water Quality project sites

Meghan Walker Ballard

Seattle Public Utilities is beginning to install above-ground temporary water pipes to avoid water shutoffs at the East Ballard and Fremont Ship Canal Water Quality project construction sites.

SPU says that crews will be installing the pipes through the end of the year either above ground or in shallow trenches near the project sites. Crews plan to be working underground around existing water pipes; the temporary pipes will allow them to do the work without shutting off water service to nearby residents and businesses.

Diagram of pipe flow

You can watch a short video of the process of pipe welding on SPU’s YouTube channel.

During the pipe bypass work, SPU says you can expect the following:

  • A few periods of night work, which will include closures at or west of the intersection on NW 45th St and 11th Ave NW
  • Two separate short, temporary water outages will be necessary to complete the water bypass pipe installation. The first outage occurred the night of November 9th. The second outage is expected to follow about two weeks later. If your service will be impacted, you’ll receive a door hanger with more information about 5 days prior to the outage.
  • Heavy equipment in the area
  • NW 45th St closed to traffic; vehicles must detour onto NW 46th St
  • Burke-Gilman Trail users remain detoured to the north side of NW 45th St
  • Flaggers will help direct traffic during daytime working hours. Please follow all detour guidance on site. For safety, bicyclists should either dismount or cross train tracks at a 90-degree angle. Please use extra caution in wet weather as ramps may be slippery.
  • Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site

At the Fremont site, crews haves tarted jet grouting work in Leary Way NW, causing lane reductions between 1st Ave NW and NW 39th St.

SPU says you can expect the following:

  • Lane reductions on Leary Way NW through approximately Feb. 2022 (see with optional detour)
  • Large equipment on Leary Way NW to support jet grouting work
  • Excavators working on site for utility installation work
  • Truck traffic on Leary Way NW as trucks bring and remove materials to and from the site
  • NW 36th St between Leary Way NW and 3rd Ave NW closed (through remainder of the project)
  • Pedestrian detours on Leary Way NW, please follow all detour guidance on site
  • Generator running during work hours to power equipment
  • 2nd Ave NW, between Leary Way NW and NW Canal St, closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for sewer and diversion structure work at least through the end of the year
  • NW Canal St is open to two-way traffic to allow access during this closure. Please do not park at the west end of NW Canal St to allow two-way traffic to turn around at the closure
  • Noise and vibrations typical of a construction site

Meanwhile in the downtown Ballard site, the tunnel boring machine MudHoney has reached its planned pause to switch from a conveyor belt system of removing spoils to a rail system.

During the pause in tunneling, SPU says you can expect heavy equipment such as cranes being installed on site along with truck deliveries of MudHoney equipment and noise and vibrations typical of a construction site.