It’s alive! Bertha shows signs of movement in recent video
Nov 24, 2015, 5:23 PM | Updated: 5:46 pm
In a recent video released by WSDOT, Bertha's cutterhead is rotating smoothly as the boring machine goes through testing. (WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
After months of woes and repair, Bertha, the world’s largest boring machine, is moving once again underneath Seattle.
The machine isn’t moving forward just yet, however.
In a recent video released by WSDOT, Bertha’s cutterhead is rotating smoothly as the boring machine goes through testing. The tests follow months of repair to the front of the machine.
The front end of Bertha has undergone extensive repairs at the bottom of an access pit along the Seattle waterfront. WSDOT’s video of Bertha undergoing testing is the first time the public has seen the machine operate ever since it broke through the southern wall of the pit in February.
The cutterhead began making small movements since last week. After a brief move, crews would then take measurements before making another incomplete turn. The recent video shows the first time Bertha has made a full rotation.
Bertha will now rotate its cutterhead in each direction, for one hour at a time, as crews prepare to begin boring again on Dec. 23.
Before the machine can move forward, the access pit where it rests will be filled back in.
