SEATTLE WATERFRONT DISASTER!
I am unable to do a link to this, and thought the photo I posted would say more than it did. Here is at least part of the story…
Pier collapses on Seattle waterfront
SEP 13, 2020 at 6:53 PM
BY
Pier 58 is next to the Great Wheel, near the Seattle Aquarium.
A pier on Seattle’s waterfront collapsed on Sunday afternoon, sending two construction workers into the salt water below.
They were pulled up with buoys thrown out by safety staff on site, and arrived at Harborview Medical Center at 4:45 p.m. The construction workers, men ages 30 and 42, were in satisfactory condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.
This pier is next to the Great Wheel, which did not sink.
In August, city workers discovered that the pier was deteriorating fast.
Read: Seattle’s Waterfront Park closes permanently after inching out to sea
With more shifting late last week, crews began demolition on Saturday. The pier had been cordoned off from the public.
While it was known that the pier was shifting, “the speed which with the collapse took place was a surprise,” said Marshall Foster, director of the Seattle Office of the Waterfront and Civic Works.
“We knew that the pier was shifting, and that there was a risk of collapse, and so a series of additional safety precautions were taken,” Foster said.
The construction workers had been tasked with removing heavy concrete planters that are around the Waterfront Park fountain, also known as Fitzgerald Fountain, a giant bronze structure. They were saw-cutting around those planters when the collapse began.
About a fifth of the pier fell into the water, Foster said. The portion of the pier that fell into the water will have to be pulled up.
The pier was built in 1974. It’s been known as Waterfront Park since its beginning. While it may not seem old, the waterfront is tough on the structures that live on it.
9 response to "SEATTLE WATERFRONT DISASTER!"
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I know that area fairly well. It’s beautiful. I’ve ridden my bike past that pier with my son, and we’ve looked down on it while eating seafood chowder at the Pike Place Market. Never rode the famous Ferris Wheel though, and now I may never get the chance.
I have not ridden on the Wheel either, but some of my friends have. Horror stories about regular Ferris wheels spooks me, let alone this behemoth!
Not sure who gets credit for the quote, but it sure is true . . . .
“Just one damn thing after another”
Good news is, the construction workers survived.
The last I heard about the workmen is that they were in ‘satisfactory’ condition in the hospital.
I had not heard about this. Went back through my pictures taken in Seattle and could not see the Great Wheel in any of them. Hope the two that were plunged in the water are doing OK.
I don’t know when you were in Seattle last, but it’s unmissable so it probably came along since then. Opened in 2012, it was the largest Ferris wheel on the pacific coast at the time. I was shocked myself the first time I saw it, wondering how I’d missed it before.
I had not recalled when the Great Wheel first was there, but had guessed it was after your visit Laura. Glad to have Scott clear that up. Thanks Scott.
Sounds like Rich’s town’s gravity problem is contagious!
I hadn’t thought of that Em — but yes, seems like it ?.