As many as five demolition crews will be munching and toppling sections of the old Alaskan Way Viaduct next spring, as workers attempt an all-out sprint to level the concrete leviathan within four months.
They’ll maneuver grasping tools shaped like lobster claws, while working until 11 p.m. up to six days a week, under a special noise waiver from the city. At up to 85 decibels, contractors admit the noise will be louder than highway traffic.
The waterfront will be a spectacle of netting, dust, roaring machines, and rubble being piled or trucked away. Screens will be hung over and below the condemned highway to protect buildings, some of which are within 10 feet. The heavy machines will be equipped with metal jaws that bite the concrete several times to partly pulverize rubble before it falls to the ground. These chompers make less noise than old-style impact hammers, which pound a heavy steel piece into the deck.
Major work could start by early February when the new, four-lane Highway 99 tunnel opens, to replace the viaduct after it closes forever Jan. 11.