During development and acquisition of the wheel , the State of Washington , King County , the City of Seattle , and the Port of Seattle solidified plans to dig a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct , which had been damaged in an earthquake in 2001 . The plans included creating an underground tunnel that would run beneath the city 's downtown core . The initial phase of demolition and removal of the viaduct began on October 21 , 2011 . Griffith was concerned that without a large tourist attraction , many waterfront businesses would suffer and go out of business during construction . The Seattle Great Wheel was designed to resolve these issues and draw visitors to the waterfront
earthquake
2001 Nisqually earthquake
Pier 57 (Seattle)