5-day timelapse of Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition

At the end of last month we posted a video of an articulated jack hammer starting work on demolishing the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle. It was just a small part of a big project that could prove difficult in places due to the close proximity of the viaduct to surrounding buildings.

That doesn't seem to be slowing demolition down too much, though. Rhine Demolition has recently demolished the south mile of the viaduct, and captured a time-lapse of the event you can watch above.

The time-lapse saw a photo captured every 3 minutes over the course of 5 days from the 13th floor of the nearby Norton Building. As you can see, the team make swift progress along the south mile stretch, and we can only imagine how local residents will feel about so much concrete disappearing from the landscape.

Articulated jack hammer goes to work on Alaskan Way Viaduct

The video above shows the start of a major project to demolish the very busy Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle. Built in the 1950s, this first section of the highway will take nine days to demolish and could cause a bit of traffic chaos as the viaduct carries 110,000 cars every day.

The reason for the demolition is due to another major project set to be finished in 2015, which will see the viaduct completely replaced by a deep bore tunnel highway. It's sure to be a difficult job in parts due to the close proximity it has to some buildings. Here's just one example:

Source: The Wrecking Ball