Seattle contractors challenge order to halt Bertha tunneling
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle contractors say the state's order to suspend digging a new Highway 99 tunnel is unjustified.Our news partners The Seattle Times report that Seattle Tunnel Partners say they had already responded appropriately to a sinkhole problem when Gov.
State orders Bertha tunneling to stop amid safety concerns
SEATTLE -- The news that Governor Inslee has halted the Bertha tunneling project because of severe safety concerns is generating lots of reaction.One Olympia lawmaker is even threatening new anti-tunnel legislation.“This is exactly the kind of reason that everyone thinks the tunnel project is a debacle that should be stopped,” said Sen.
State halts Bertha tunneling after sinkhole forms near waterfront
SEATTLE (AP) — The state has halted the digging of the new Highway 99 tunnel under downtown Seattle after a sinkhole formed along the waterfront.Gov.
Bertha idled again: Sinkhole opens up about 35-40 feet away from Alaskan Way Viaduct
SEATTLE -- 'Bertha' is idle again, this time due to a sinkhole that opened about 35 feet north of the tunneling machine's access pit.The contractor, Seattle Tunnel Partners, said a sinkhole, which is about 30 feet wide and 15 feet deep, opened up Tuesday night.
Bertha moves out of access pit, will begin work under Seattle streets in a few months
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's tunnel-boring machine has moved past the concrete walls that make up a repair pit and has started digging into soil about 80 feet below street-level.After being out of commission for about two years, the machine called Bertha has tunneled about 73 feet and installed 12 concrete tunnel rings since it started moving again on Dec. 22.The Seattle tunnel was the preferred choice to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct when it was damaged in a 2001 earthquake.
Bertha is drilling again: 8 feet done and 8,000 feet to go
SEATTLE -- The boring machine Bertha has passed its first set of tests, since resuming tunneling along the Seattle waterfront.Seattle Tunnel Partners say crews started moving Bertha forward in its underground pit early Tuesday.
Bertha to resume digging Seattle tunnel Monday
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's broken down tunnel boring machine should get back to work Monday after a pipe stopped progress on a new State Route 99 more than two years ago.Chris Dixon of Seattle Tunnel Partners told state lawmakers on Thursday that Bertha only needs to advance through the sand and dirt inside the machine's repair put before the dig resumes in earnest in January.After the machine advances through 450 feet to a previously fortified area, the next step will be to tunnel beneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct.The Washington State Department of Transportation expects to close the viaduct to traffic for up to two weeks when Bertha drills beneath it.The four-lane toll tunnel Bertha is working on was supposed to open at the end of 2015.
Bertha's repaired cutter-head being lowered back into access pit
SEATTLE -- With work on Bertha inching forward, Washington State Department of Transportation and Seattle Tunnel Partners seem optimistic the project is back on track, but nearby business owners are skeptical.“The repairs are very complex and involved so today is a real milestone,” Seattle Tunnel Partners project manager Chris Dixon said Monday.The massive cutter-head for the 4-million-pound drilling machine is being lowered down into its pit, getting in place to resume work on the SR 99 tunnel project.While the contractor, STP, seemed pleased with the progress at the media announcement, blocks away at Arundel Books, founder Phil Bevis isn’t so sure.“After Bertha broke during tunnel construction, a bunch of buildings in Pioneer Square settled, and it caused a number of complications and right in this area for a period of time,” said Bevis.For Bevis, it meant moving out of his original store location to a space above ground.“Problems with the tunnel project and excavating Bertha forced us to move at a tremendous expense,” said Bevis. “It cost us a ton of money, and we’re just about to enter the claims process.”Bevis believes WSDOT and STP's biggest issues have been lack of transparency and lack of communication.“It goes a long way to build trust and faith and that’s where they’re really hurting,” said Bevis.With Bertha nearly repaired and a target completion date set for spring of 2018, Dixon said during the media tour that he doesn’t foresee any more obstacles.“Once we start the tunnel drive, we will complete it successfully without any incidents,” said Dixon.It's a claim businesses say they will really have to see to believe.“I hope they are, I really do, but so far nothing they’ve done has given me any reason to have any faith,” said Bevis.By Thursday, Bertha’s cutter-head is expected to be in place in the pit.From then until the end of November, crews will be working to reconnect hoses, wires and complete tests so tunneling can begin.
Gov. Inslee: ‘Day could come’ to pull plug on Bertha, but not now
OLYMPIA -- Washington’s governor is “frustrated ...
Take a look inside Seattle tunnel; contractor says Bertha will resume digging by Nov. 23 (VIDEO)
SEATTLE (AP) — Critical final repairs are being made this week to Bertha, Seattle's tunnel boring machine, and digging is slated to resume by Nov. 23.Washington transportation officials say the new State Route 99 tunnel is now scheduled to open in the spring of 2018 -- almost three years beyond the original target of late 2015.Bertha broke down in December 2013 and crews spent much of 2014 digging a pit to access the front of the machine so the cutter head could be repaired.Seattle Tunnel Partners pulled the machine out of the ground in March, and they said in a press release on Friday that they began installing a new main bearing on the machine this week.Project manager Chris Dixon says they want to reassemble the machine and begin tunneling as quickly as possible, but also want to be sure it's done right.
WSDOT: Bertha problems worse than first thought, further delays possible
SEATTLE -- Damages to the State Route 99 deep tunnel boring machine are worse than originally thought, WSDOT officials said Monday, possibly pointing to further delays with tunnel completion.The SR 99 tunnel, which will run about 2 miles under the city, is designed to replace the Alaskan Way viaduct, damaged in a 2001 earthquake.
Board: Washington state should have warned Bertha contractor about underground pipe
SEATTLE (AP) — A review board says Washington state should have done more to warn the company building a highway tunnel under downtown Seattle about a steel pipe that a tunnel-boring machine hit on Dec. 3, 2013.That was three days before the giant drill known as Bertha overheated and stalled.The Seattle Times reports (http://is.gd/kXjWmH ) that the review board did not address whether hitting the pipe caused Bertha's continuing shutdown.Board members did find that an important primary document the state provided to contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners was "silent" regarding the steel pipe.
WATCH: Time-lapse video of part of Bertha being hauled to the surface
SEATTLE -- On Thursday, there was a 270-ton lift of Bertha’s upper front body segment to the surface to being repairs on the tunnel boring machine.This is a time-lapse taken from the view of the cab operator of the crane that lifted the segment.
Crews pulling pieces of Seattle tunnel machine Bertha to surface
SEATTLE (AP) — Workers at the Seattle tunnel project have started pulling pieces of the broken tunnel machine called Bertha to the surface for repairs.Washington transportation officials say crews began lifting the 270-ton section of the machine's upper body on Thursday afternoon.This is the first of four large pieces of Bertha that Seattle Tunnel Partners will lift from the rescue pit.
One-on-One with Seattle's mayor: Murray talks police shakeup, homeless camps, Bertha (VIDEO)
SEATTLE -- In an interview Wednesday with Q13 FOX News, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray talked about the changes taking place at the Seattle Police Department, the situation with homeless camps, the Bertha tunneling machine and more.Watch the video report below:
WATCH: Time-lapse video of massive Bertha pushing into access pit
SEATTLE -- The Bertha tunneling machine has reached its stopping point in the SR 99 tunnel access pit, Seattle Tunnel Partners said Wednesday, clearing the way for the disassembly and repair process to begin.With Bertha now in position, crews will begin to take apart the machine to start repairs.
SEE IT: Tunneling machine Bertha breaks through concrete wall into access pit
SEATTLE -- The front end of the tunnel boring machine Bertha punched through a 20-foot-thick wall around noon Thursday.Crews restarted Bertha on Tuesday night working to get the boring machine to the access pit.
Bertha chugging along, more than half way to rescue pit
SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle's troubled tunnel machine named Bertha has made it more than half way toward its goal of reaching a rescue pit where it can be repaired.On Wednesday, Bertha drilled 6 feet through the south wall of the access pit and on Thursday morning, she had made it 14 feet.
She's here! Bertha breaks through wall into rescue pit
SEATTLE (AP) — Bertha has reached her goal.The cutterhead on Seattle's troubled tunnel machine broke through the 20-foot-thick wall of a rescue pit at about noon on Thursday.