Last Friday, as part of the Annapurna business mitigation contest, Sound Transit invited media to tag along on their U-Link walking tour. We were given the rare opportunity to walk the entire 3 miles underground, departing from UW Station around 2pm and emerging a couple blocks east of Westlake just after 4pm.

U-Link is now 85% complete and still on track for an early 2016 opening. UW Station is about 95% complete, and Capitol Hill station just over 50% complete. About a third of the track and electrical is finished, and no OCS (overhead catenary) is yet installed.

Below are some photos from the tour. See also Capitol Hill Seattle and the Seattle Times ($) for more photos and video.

Pre-tour briefing:

Approaching UW Station:

Construction near the pedestrian overpass of Montlake Boulevard:

Looking toward the north end of UW station. Note the center platform:

The ‘demising wall’, which will separate U-Link operations from North Link construction (apologies for the blur):

Bruce Gray holding down the fort:

Looking south toward the twin bores to Capitol Hill. Note that the crossover tracks will be built here for terminal use between 2016-2021, and for turnback service after 2021 in the event of service disruptions:

Walking from UW Station into the southbound bore, where tracks are not quite yet installed:

One of a couple dozen cross-passages for emergency use.

Inside the cross-passages:

The rails coming together. From here south the rails are installed:

Hi-Rail vehicle working just North of Capitol Hill Station:

The long straightaway between Montlake and Volunteer Park ending, with the tracks curving left to approach Capitol Hill Station:

“Now approaching Capitol Hill Station. Doors to my left.”

Interior of Capitol Hill Station. The “Kissing Pink Fighter Jets” art installation will hang suspended in between the pillars:

Capitol Hill Station:

Now in the northbound bore, the tracks briefly turn left to accommodate a gentler grade into Westlake:

This test section between Capitol Hill and Westlake will be a prototype of a ‘floating slab’ designed to reduce vibrations to within a tolerance of 5hz. If successful, this design will be included underneath UW, a required mitigation to protect laboratory equipment:

Crossing under I-5, the northwestward arc ends and the trains turn southwest to approach Westlake:

Approaching the end of the tour, the TBM receiving pit on Pine just east of the Paramount Theatre:

Daylight, and the end of the tour:

Behind the arch you can see the ULink ‘demising wall’, separating U-Link from Central Link: