Development of Replacement Concepts for the Alaskan Way Seawall, Seattle, Washington

The Alaskan Way Seawall is a unique structure located in Puget Sound, Washington. As the interface between the dense development of downtown Seattle and the marine waters of Elliott Bay, its purpose is to provide wave and erosion protection, as well as to retain fill for upland developments and transportation and utility corridors. While the seawall has served the city well over the past 70 years, its main structural support system, a timber relieving platform, has become vulnerable to marine borers. In addition, the design and location of the seawall make it vulnerable to liquefaction induced failure in a strong earthquake. The loss of the seawall would threaten not only the transportation facilities, the waterfront street, and the Alaskan Way Viaduct (part of the National Highway System - one of the two main northsouth highway routes through Seattle), but also a regional utility corridor. Because of the importance of the structure and its vulnerabilities, many seawall replacement concepts were studied before arriving at the current concept that combines soil improvement with a new concrete face panel system. This paper briefly describes the history of the seawall and summarizes the important issues considered in the development of replacement concepts for this unique and significant marine structure.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780784408346
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Authors:
  • Harn, Robert
  • Arnesen, John
  • Petereit, Ralph
  • Perkins, Bill
• Conference:
  • The Eleventh Triannual International Conference: Ports 2007, 30 Years of Sharing Ideas...1977-2007
  • Location: San Diego CA, United States
  • Date: 2007-3-25 to 2007-3-28
• Publication Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; Photos; References;
• Pagination: 10p
• Monograph Title: Ports 2007: 30 Years of Sharing Ideas...1977-2007

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Earthquake resistant structures; History; Marine borers; Timber
• Identifier Terms: Alaskan Way Seawall
• Uncontrolled Terms: Replacement (Structures); Seawalls
• Geographic Terms: Puget Sound; Seattle (Washington)
• Subject Areas: History; Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01077402
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780784408346
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 5 2007 2:28PM