The perfect gift for the hard-to-buy-for person: Building Seattle’s State Route 99 Supertunnel - Journey from light to light

The book cover shows the interior of the tunnel looking out to the North Portal,
where Bertha exited near Westlake and the Seattle Center.

By Diane Hettrick

We all have them. That person who is just impossible to buy for. Usually a male - a father, brother, husband, partner - whose hobbies are so expensive they are out of reach and who doesn't seem to really want anything else.

The solution is at hand - and it's a book. Not just any book.

Building Seattle’s State Route 99 Supertunnel - Journey from light to light. This is a 190-page large format coffee table hardcover book, covering all aspects of the construction of the Seattle Tunnel.

Shoreline resident Catherine Bassetti's photographs documenting the making of the Seattle Tunnel was published this year and the book is amazing.

For five years, Catherine was the official photographer for the Seattle Tunnel Partners, spending virtually every day in the tunnel with the construction crews, documenting their work. 

We saw the news stories about this tunnel, which replaced the viaduct, diving under the Seattle waterfront to carry the SR 99 lanes north and south.

The immense scale of the tunnel is seen compared to workers
Photo by Catherine Bassetti

But nothing on TV could prepare us for the impact and size of the tunnel as these photos do.

Much of the general public has never experienced the many details and hard work that went on behind the scenes during that big project.

500 piece Supertunnel jigsaw puzzle

Here's a bonus - there's a companion jigsaw puzzle. 

500 pieces guaranteed to keep your family distracted from politics at the next family gathering!

You can get more information and purchase the book and puzzle from this website

https://www.thesupertunnel.com

More information about Catherine Bassetti and her Supertunnel project in this article in The Seattle Times by Transportation Reporter, Mike Lindblom.