State asking for $78M reimbursement for Bertha’s two-year delay
Oct 8, 2015, 6:48 AM | Updated: 8:42 am
While crews get Seattle's tunnel boring machine moving again the Washington State Department of Transportation is asking for reimbursement for the time Bertha sat idle. (WSDOT)
(WSDOT)
While crews get Seattle’s tunnel boring machine moving again the Washington State Department of Transportation is asking for reimbursement for the time Bertha sat idle.
The department is asking insurance companies to reimburse it for the money lost during the two-year delay.
The Seattle Times reports the state project team sent a letter to insurers that says WSDOT expects to lose $78 million due to extra costs, including spending on administrators, engineers, consulting and office space. Additionally, WSDOT expects to have to spend more money to demolish the Alaskan Way Viaduct and build a new waterfront roadway because of construction inflation.
Related: Insurance companies sue to get out of paying for Bertha repairs
The new tunnel was scheduled to open to traffic by the end of 2015. It may not open until March 2018.
The Times reports that as of June, the state had spent an extra $3.25 million extra on the project. The state believes it will spend another $75 million by the time the project is complete.
Bertha is expected to begin boring again in November. It has traveled 1,083 of the needed 9,270 feet, before overheating in December 2013. An investigation determined the machine had a damaged seal system.
WSDOT released a video of the progress being made on the project. All major components of the machine are now back in the pit, according to information from the video.
