Local

Winner announced in Seattle tunnel boring machine naming contest

Mudhoney - Photo Credit Tim Durkan

SEATTLE — After 35,000 votes were cast, the Seattle Public Utilities announced Monday that the tunnel boring machine that will be used for the Ship Canal Water Quality Project has been named Mudhoney.

The City of Seattle and King County are boring an underground tunnel to collect and hold stormwater and sewage that would normally flow into the Ship Canal.

This summer Mudhoney will begin digging the nearly 3-mile long tunnel to help reduce Seattle’s sewer overflows, with plans to finish by 2025.

The final tunnel will prevent an average of 75 million gallons of polluted stormwater and sewage from reaching the Puget Sound every year.

0