Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Tunnel

[noelbotevera]

Why do I have the feeling that date is optimistic?

As long as it reaches Safe Haven 3. If it does make it there without breaking down, I'd say the date would come true. If everything is inspected properly, it does seem probable.

[jakeroot]

Why do I have the feeling that date is optimistic?

It's already like three years late. I'm just happy with a date.

[Alps]

I'm just happy with a date.

Story of AARoads.

[TravelingBethelite]

I'm just happy with a date with a highway engineer.

Story of AARoads.

FTFY.   

[mcarling]

If the history is TBMs is any indication, it is very unlikely that Bertha would have to be extracted again.  Most TBM repairs are made in situ.  Bertha has received a complete overhaul, with many improvements, over the last two years.  Unless she runs into another major obstruction, such as another large pipe, we probably won't see a need for any repairs more serious than replacement of cutting teeth and such.  It would not be surprising if we see Bertha shut down for a week or so for a minor overhaul of the cutting head, but I will be surprised if we see anything much more significant.

[Bruce]

Bertha has left the access/recovery pit and hit real dirt for the first time in 2 years.

Since the machine restarted on December 22, Bertha has move 73 feet and installed 12 rings.

WSDOT released a video showing Bertha operations in various places, including the control room and the conveyor belt for debris:

Also, the Reddit betting pool made Bloomberg Businessweek.

[jakeroot]

WSDOT released a video showing Bertha operations in various places, including the control room and the conveyor belt for debris:

Nice to get a look inside. The machine looks like it's from Fallout or something (particularly between :48 and :55).

[Henry]

WSDOT released a video showing Bertha operations in various places, including the control room and the conveyor belt for debris:

Nice to get a look inside. The machine looks like it's from Fallout or something (particularly between :48 and :55).

Yes, it is interesting to see what happens to the excavated material. The end of the video has www.alaskanwayviaduct.org as the project website, but the link somehow redirects to a WSDOT page.

[jakeroot]

WSDOT released a video showing Bertha operations in various places, including the control room and the conveyor belt for debris:

Nice to get a look inside. The machine looks like it's from Fallout or something (particularly between :48 and :55).

Yes, it is interesting to see what happens to the excavated material. The end of the video has www.alaskanwayviaduct.org as the project website, but the link somehow redirects to a WSDOT page.

I think the idea with the 'www.alaskanwayviaduct.org' link is simply to redirect people to the WSDOT site (the WSDOT link is too long to remember).

[Pete from Boston]

Another thing that's even more questionable is: why destroy Bertha? It can be used for another projects that require tunneling like this, but if you will turn it into scrap, why build it in the first place, if you'll destroy it for its first job.

mcarling explained it more thoroughly, but the short answer is no, it can't.  TBMs are, except in rare circumstances, one use only.  Individual parts can be re-used or recycled, but the machine as a whole is useless upon completion of the project.

Of course the listings are mostly just a sea of vagary, but searching Alibaba for used tunnel boring machines is a fun exercise:

http://m.alibaba.com/product/60315109883/used-tunnel-boring-machine.html?spm=a2706.7843667.1998817010.7.1aEtCW#

China seems to be a wild west of second-hand massive construction equipment.

[Henry]

WSDOT released a video showing Bertha operations in various places, including the control room and the conveyor belt for debris:

Nice to get a look inside. The machine looks like it's from Fallout or something (particularly between :48 and :55).

Yes, it is interesting to see what happens to the excavated material. The end of the video has www.alaskanwayviaduct.org as the project website, but the link somehow redirects to a WSDOT page.

I think the idea with the 'www.alaskanwayviaduct.org' link is simply to redirect people to the WSDOT site (the WSDOT link is too long to remember).

Maybe you're right.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Knowing Alibaba, they actually have a listing with a picture of the actual Big Bertha and are trying to sell it.

[Bruce]

Knowing Alibaba, they actually have a listing with a picture of the actual Big Bertha and are trying to sell it.

Too bad Alibaba can't ship to Washington state.

Someday they'll open their US offices here and fix that policy...

[Bruce]

Excavation has halted once again...and it's not even Bertha's fault this time!

A barge carrying excavated dirt tipped over in Elliott Bay and managed to damage a dock at the port's Terminal 46.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/bertha-stops-digging-again-but-this-time-its-because-of-a-barge/

[The Ghostbuster]

Why am I not surprised?

[Bruce]

The Times asked some psychics to predict Bertha's perils for 2016 a week ago (before the barge stoppage). Here's what they had to say:

Bertha

Todo, whose practice involves clearing out negative energy and focusing on the positive, is alone in predicting that problems with Bertha – the tunnel-digging behemoth that's been stalled for two years – are over.

"She's not going to get stuck again,"  she said.

The more interesting question about Bertha, for her, concerns the "deep ancestral roots of the city"  that Bertha is cutting through. Todo believes there will be some major artifact uncovered and also see ties to the city's Asian, Native-American and Italian forbears.

Because there is "no going back"  from the tunnel plan now, she advises everyone invested in the region's well-being to stop sending messages of doubt and fear and instead think about "moving forward."

René Aceves, a Tarot card reader and astrologer who can be found at Gargoyles Statuary in the University District, has a different forecast after doing the city's horoscope.

"The underground tunnel could continue to be plagued by problems,"  he said in a telephone interview this week. He sees issues with flooding and decay.

Two seers indicated the tunnel-drilling saga may resolve in unexpected ways.

Melissa Peil of Mystical Awakenings (cited as one of the Top 50 Psychics in the U.S.) said the project is salvageable, but "It's going to take a little bit of a different direction than originally projected."

[jakeroot]

Something tells me that, if the tunnel hadn't been in the public's eye for the last two years, this wouldn't have even made the news. It's a minor issue at most. The only reason Bertha stopped digging was to "make sure" things are good. She isn't stuck. She's just waiting.

[Bruce]

Something tells me that, if the tunnel hadn't been in the public's eye for the last two years, this wouldn't have even made the news. It's a minor issue at most. The only reason Bertha stopped digging was to "make sure" things are good. She isn't stuck. She's just waiting.

I think a loose barge hitting one of the port's piers is probably a bit newsworthy on its own. Adding Bertha makes it a headline story.

[jakeroot]

Something tells me that, if the tunnel hadn't been in the public's eye for the last two years, this wouldn't have even made the news. It's a minor issue at most. The only reason Bertha stopped digging was to "make sure" things are good. She isn't stuck. She's just waiting.

I think a loose barge hitting one of the port's piers is probably a bit newsworthy on its own. Adding Bertha makes it a headline story.

Sorry, I misspoke. Any barge tipping would have made the news. The "Bertha" bit would not have made it onto the headline however. I would imagine the alternative headline would have been "Tunnel barge tips in Elliott Bay; Pier inspections begin", and the story would have included a line like "tunnel boring has been suspended while inspections continue".

[jakeroot]

Governor Inslee has suspended tunneling operations until safety can be "guaranteed":

Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday he has ordered a halt of tunneling for the new State Route 99 after a sinkhole formed behind the boring machine, Bertha.

"Seriously disappointed,"  Inslee told reporters.

Inslee said he is ordering tunnel contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners to stop drilling until safety can be guaranteed.

I think this move is more symbolic than anything. I would explain more, but it starts getting political.

[noelbotevera]

Right, at this point, why not just simply maintain the Alaskan Way Viaduct for the next 50 years. Added bonus, the US 99 sign will also stay the longer the viaduct is kept.

[jakeroot]

Right, at this point, why not just simply maintain the Alaskan Way Viaduct for the next 50 years. Added bonus, the US 99 sign will also stay the longer the viaduct is kept.

I'm pretty sure the governor signed a bill a number of years ago which made it, more or less, illegal to do nothing (citing safety concerns with the current viaduct).

This is a minor bump; there will be more. By the time the news media even knew about the sinkhole yesterday, it had been filled in.

[The Ghostbuster]

If it had been known it would be this difficult to construct a tunnel in Seattle, maybe they should have just reconstructed the existing viaduct instead.

[jakeroot]

If it had been known it would be this difficult to construct a tunnel in Seattle, maybe they should have just reconstructed the existing viaduct instead.

The problem with the viaduct is more than just its dilapidated state. It's like a huge wall between downtown Seattle and the waterfront. Part of the reason for sinking the freeway below ground was to remove that wall, thus making the waterfront appear more attractive to tourists in downtown, and vice-versa. Currently, the areas around the viaduct are dirty, dark, and not very inviting. Seattle has the potential to have a great waterfront, but the viaduct has to go.

My point being, no matter the trouble it takes, the viaduct (hell, any elevated freeway) has to go.

Seattle residents are talking about lidding over the 5 freeway on the east side of downtown, to reconnect two "disconnected" areas of the city. Freeways are more than just a physical barrier -- they're psychological as well.

What they could have done was build the freeway below-grade, and lid over it in parts, and then build a large hill on the north-side of the Alaskan Way to reconnect it to a rebuilt Battery Street Tunnel. My guess is that was studied, however, and turned down for various engineering reasons.

[kkt]

About lidding I-5, that's an article in the Stranger, and it's brought up periodically... unfortunately the time to demand expensive concessions like lids is before construction begins, not 50 years later.  Doing it now, the State will be looking at god knows how much the final bill for the 99 tunnel, escalating sanctions from the Supreme Court regarding McCleary, and voters outside the I-5 corridor unwilling to accept increased taxes for anything.

If someday there's a consensus to do something about I-5 narrowing to 2 lanes each way under the convention center, taking more land on the sides in the process, then perhaps the city can demand lidding.  My kid will probably have grandkids by then.