Bertha’s 2,000-ton front end making way to repair platform
Mar 30, 2015, 8:06 AM | Updated: Mar 31, 2015, 12:45 pm
The removal of Bertha's front end could take 16 hours or longer. (Photo courtesy of the Washington State Department of Transportation)
(Photo courtesy of the Washington State Department of Transportation)
Crews lifted the front end of Bertha, the massive tunneling machine stuck under Seattle’s waterfront, Monday.
The day started off with tests to make sure the huge red crane could handle the weight of the 2,000-ton section, which made it to the surface a few hours after the lift began.
The section was rotated into a horizontal position and then rolled southward on rails toward a platform. Crews will lower the section onto that platform on Tuesday morning.
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“Crews will take as long as necessary to prepare for and safely complete the lift,” a statement from WSDOT says.
The crane lifting Bertha is capable of lifting more than 2,400 tons.
The lift is the fourth and final in the repair effort of Bertha. Crews began removing the machine March 19.
Bertha overheated and stopped work in December 2013. Workers spent most of 2014 digging the 120-foot-deep access pit.
After repairs, Bertha will continue work on the tunnel project, which will run about two miles under the city, is designed to replace the Alaskan Way viaduct, damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.
Bertha is expected to resume tunneling in August. While boring for the Seattle waterfront tunnel is on hold, the Washington State Department of Transportation said the work was about 70 percent complete as of December 2014.
If all goes as planned, the tunnel is expected to open to traffic at the end of 2017.
