Seattle’s Slow Sink Raises Concerns For Local Infrastructure

Over the years, I'm sure we have all heard about the city of Venice slowly sinking into the waters of the Venetian Lagoon. As that city struggles to save their irreplaceable historic buildings, living here in Washington state, I would have never thought that we would have something similar slowly happening on the shores of Elliott Bay. 

It seems that a recent study shows that Seattle is slowly sinking, millimeter by millimeter and is considered a greater problem than one would think. 

According to axios.com,
‘Land subsidence is an invisible but growing threat to urban infrastructure — cracking roads, destabilizing buildings and making low-lying areas even more flood-prone.
In Seattle, it combines with sea level rise, seismic instability and aging buildings and infrastructure to heighten long-term risk.’ 

The study claims that this is not just a Seattle problem, but a problem for 25 of the 28 cities that were involved in the study, potentially affecting 33 million people. That's about 10% of the whole population of the United States. 

According to the study, the affected cities are sinking at a rate of two to 10 millimeters per year. Seattle has a problem because the entire city is sinking gradually, but some parts are sinking quicker than others which can result in damage to infrastructure like sidewalks, roads, bridges, you get the picture. 

Seattle has been making plans to deal with this issue with the help of university of Washington. The city has upgraded drainage systems and installed a new storm water pump station, Made improvement to sea walls and more. 

Other plans for the future are being considered, including. zoning changes Installing tide gates and green infrastructure. 

Seattle is planning for the future, as it slowly creeps up on the city, 2 millimeters a year.
Nearly all of Seattle is on sinking ground - Axios Seattle
Seattle area not prepared for climate disasters, study finds - Axios Seattle
Washington coast could face sudden flooding from major earthquake - Axios Seattle
Land subsidence risk to infrastructure in US metropolises | Nature Cities