Imagine dropping a 1,000-ton, 46-foot-diameter, 26-foot-tall concrete cylinder more than 300 feet into the dark depths of Hood Canal without a direct view – and still touching within 12 inches of your mark.
It might sound daunting, but Kiewit-General workers have done it seven times.
Early Thursday morning, they dropped the seventh of 10 anchors about 500-yards north of Hood Canal Bridge.
The anchor was sent to a depth of 327 feet after a big stream of water flooded its interior.
The drama – and most challenging point in the drop – ended shortly after the anchor, attached to massive clamps and lowered by cables, slipped under the canal surface, leaving only a trace of bubbles behind.
Calm waters under partly sunny skies made for steady, favorable work conditions on Thursday.
The anchor and 19 others will stabilize the new eastern half of the Hood Canal Bridge when it is constructed in May 2009.
