Sunday/ Bertha’s progress – Willem's Planet

Bertha has completed about half of the digging of the tunnel, but with more than 6 months of digging still ahead.

Here’s the inside of the tunnel. The yellow tube brings in fresh air to the boring machine. The red and black structure on the roof is a conveyor belt that takes the dirt out. The inside of the tunnel is made of concrete ring segments that get put in place as the machine chews its way through the earth. Eventually an upper deck (for south bound traffic) and a lower deck (north bound) will be constructed in the tunnel.

Here’s a picture I took today. The ugly Alaskan Way Viaduct will be demolished, but it will probably take two more years for the completion of the tunnel. The activity below is work that had been done to reconstruct a ‘seawall’ to protect the waterfront edge from erosion by the Puget Sound water, and to enable shore-like marine life to take hold (seaweed, crabs, mussels).

Leave a Reply Cancel reply