Yay! The tunnel boring machine called Bertha, digging the State Route 99 tunnel under the city to replace Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct, emerged today into the sunlight. The tunnel is 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long. Digging started four years ago in April 2013, but came to a halt in December 2013 when damage to the the main bearing was sustained. It would be two years, until December 2015, before digging could resume.
So .. now the tunnel is dug, but it will still take until early 2019 before the current above-ground section of State Route 99 can be moved below ground, by using the tunnel.
