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[Henry]

Why aren't I surprised? And this is assuming that Bertha has no further breakdowns, right?

[jakeroot]

Why aren't I surprised? And this is assuming that Bertha has no further breakdowns, right?

I hope the 2017 date has some contingency in it, though I find it unlikely.

[Alps]

So, Little Dig? Big Dig: West Coast?

Dig 2: Seattle. The only thing boring is the TBM.

[Laura]

Question: I read in one of the articles that Bertha does not have the ability to reverse. Is there a reason they didn't give "her" that function? After they fix her, she will still not be able to reverse, correct?

[Sub-Urbanite]

As Bertha bores, crews are putting the permanent tension rings around the inside of the tunnel. Bertha then uses hydraulics to push off those rings as it moves forward. It's not that Bertha doesn't have a reverse gear, it's that even if it did, it wouldn't have anywhere to go.

Note the concrete already lining the tunnel here.

http://seattletimes.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/today/files/2014/01/image001.jpg

[qguy]

This is true for virtually all TBM operations. In essence, the diameter of the TBM (Bertha or any other) is larger than the interior diameter of the lined tunnel it leaves in its wake. It won't fit in the tunnel behind it, only in the tunnel it carves around itself as it moves forward.

[Henry]

Question: I read in one of the articles that Bertha does not have the ability to reverse. Is there a reason they didn't give "her" that function? After they fix her, she will still not be able to reverse, correct?

This is true for virtually all TBM operations. In essence, the diameter of the TBM (Bertha or any other) is larger than the interior diameter of the lined tunnel it leaves in its wake. It won't fit in the tunnel behind it, only in the tunnel it carves around itself as it moves forward.

I agree with that assessment! And in addition, I think that the TBM would simply fall apart if they tried to move it backwards.

[jakeroot]

Any ideas what they're gonna name the tunnel when it's finished? Alaskan Way Tunnel?

I propose we name it after the governor who finalized it, Christine O'Grady Gregoire. We can call it the O'Grady Tunnel.

Or, we can name it after the Transport Secretary who also finalized it, Paula Hammond (Paula Hammond Tunnel).

[kkt]

Or Gregory Nickels, the mayor who pushed for it without a clearcut guarantee that the state would pay for cost overruns.

[jakeroot]

Or Gregory Nickels, the mayor who pushed for it without a clearcut guarantee that the state would pay for cost overruns.

Yes, I can hear it now... Nickelsville... Nickelstunnel... hmm. Kind of gives off the wrong vibe.

For the record, I would never name the tunnel after Gregoire (never liked her).

[Alps]

You have Edgar Martinez Way, so how about Ichiro Suzuki Drive?

[Kacie Jane]

Edgar Martinez Way Drive. Normally I think ceremonial names are pretty stupid, but I do like Safeco Field being advertised as "on the corner of Edgar and Dave (Niehaus Way)".

[jakeroot]

Edgar Martinez Way Drive.

No, that's also wrong.

Edgar East Martinez Way Drive

Normally I think ceremonial names are pretty stupid, but I do like Safeco Field being advertised as "on the corner of Edgar and Dave (Niehaus Way)".

I'll take a name over a number any day (with regards to specific highway features). Though I don't like the ridiculously long ceremonial names, like "Trooper Sean M. O'Connell, Jr. Memorial Bridge". Just call it the "O'Connell Bridge".

[Pete from Boston]

Edgar Martinez really has to be a one-way street.  Eight two-way streets, one one-way, then Edgar the other way.

[Kacie Jane]

Edgar Martinez Way Drive.

No, that's also wrong.

Edgar East Martinez Way Drive

Me hopes you're being facetious, and making a sly convent about the somewhat vague signage on I-5 northbound.

(It's actually Edgar Martinez Drive South. Though for the life of me, I can't understand why it's not South Edgar Martinez Drive. Putting the directional first would make it an east-west "street" instead of a north-south "avenue", which would make sense, since it replaced South Atlantic Street.)

[jakeroot]

Edgar Martinez Way Drive.

No, that's also wrong.

Edgar East Martinez Way Drive

Me hopes you're being facetious, and making a sly convent about the somewhat vague signage on I-5 northbound.

(It's actually Edgar Martinez Drive South. Though for the life of me, I can't understand why it's not South Edgar Martinez Drive. Putting the directional first would make it an east-west "street" instead of a north-south "avenue", which would make sense, since it replaced South Atlantic Street.)

Yep, never quite understood why "Ed Martinez Dr" was too much:

[jakeroot]

WSDOT posted a couple new photos of the tunnel recently:

Below, we see the future southbound carriageway coming together:



And in this photo, you can see the excavation pit:

[Sub-Urbanite]

And now, this:

GOP senators introduce bill to kill Bertha and the tunnel project

Two Republican senators Monday introduced a bill that would shut down the Seattle waterfront tunnel project and examine how to make the Alaskan Way Viaduct a viable alternative.

Proposed by senators from Ferndale and Spokane, the bill would stop spending on the project and tunnel machine Bertha, which stopped in December 2013 after boring only about 1,000 feet of a two-mile long project.


http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2015/01/26/gop-senators-introduce-bill-to-kill-bertha-and-the-tunnel-project/

[Henry]

Seems to me that this was doomed from the start...

[roadfro]

The original story has been updated: The bill will not get a hearing in the state senate.


My question to the senators: What do you propose be done with the length of tunnel already constructed? Surely revisiting the viaduct idea would take considerable time and engineering effort, with effort already applied to the tunnel clearly being wasted if their bill went through.

[mrsman]

WSDOT posted a couple new photos of the tunnel recently:

Below, we see the future southbound carriageway coming together:

Does anyone know what material they are putting on the floor of the tunnel?  It reminds me of linoleum.

[Henry]

The original story has been updated: The bill will not get a hearing in the state senate.


My question to the senators: What do you propose be done with the length of tunnel already constructed? Surely revisiting the viaduct idea would take considerable time and engineering effort, with effort already applied to the tunnel clearly being wasted if their bill went through.

Then again, I didn't expect this bill to get through anyway. Finishing the tunnel should remain a top priority.

[Vincent]

Does anyone know what material they are putting on the floor of the tunnel?  It reminds me of linoleum.

The shinny part of the floor in that photo is the concrete forms. They'll remove it.

http://www.peri-usa.com/products.cfm/fuseaction/showproduct/sys_id/1002/product_ID/102/app_id/11.cfm

[TEG24601]

Does anyone know what material they are putting on the floor of the tunnel?  It reminds me of linoleum.

The shinny part of the floor in that photo is the concrete forms. They'll remove it.

http://www.peri-usa.com/products.cfm/fuseaction/showproduct/sys_id/1002/product_ID/102/app_id/11.cfm

Actually that is a waterproof membrane, which is used to keep any water that leaks through the road bed from penetrating any further, and allow them to shunt it to drains.  They do it all the time when pouring concrete over a living space on "Hometime".

[The Ghostbuster]

If the tunnel is completed, it should function like HOT Lanes. Otherwise, it will either be jammed or underutilized.