Archinect - News

Seattle Tunnel trial: contractor must pay $57 million to Washington state for massive Bertha breakdown, jury finds

2019-12-16T14:30:00-05:00

A jury has awarded the Washington State Department of Transportation $57.2 million in damages, after a two-month trial over delays in the downtown Seattle Highway 99 tunnel project. The verdict, reached Friday against the tunnel contractors in Thurston County Superior Court in Olympia, represents the entire amount the state requested at trial.

Remember Bertha, once the world's largest tunnel-boring machine which, very inconveniently, broke down in 2013 after hitting a pipe while digging the Seattle Tunnel, delaying the megaproject for more than two years? A jury just sided with the Washington State Department of Transportation that the tunnel contractors were indeed to blame for the delay and thus owed $57.2 million in damages.

The four-lane Highway 99 tunnel beneath downtown Seattle eventually opened in February 2019.

To recall the massive scope of the SR 99 tunnel-boring machine, watch this video of a drone exploring Bertha's inner workings, published by the Washington State Department of Transportation in 2016.

This drone video takes you on a fascinating flight through the guts of Seattle's Bertha tunneling machine

2016-05-06T15:15:00-04:00

As Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct sat free of cars overhead and drivers attempted to move around the city during the roadway’s planned 2-week closure, a new drone video Tuesday showcased again what all the fuss is about. A view inside the SR 99 tunnel won’t get much better than this until you’re actually able to drive through it. [...] The 4-minute video captures what has been built behind nearly 1,600 feet of mining along Seattle’s waterfront.

Bertha previously in the Archinect news: Seattle's massive Bertha tunnel drill is up for repair, but still faces a shaky outlook

Seattle's massive Bertha tunnel drill is up for repair, but still faces a shaky outlook

2015-04-07T16:25:00-04:00

Megaprojects almost always fall short of their promises—costing too much, delivering underwhelming benefits, or both. Yet...cities still fall for them, seduced by new technologies and the lure of the perfect fix. A mix of factors has given Seattle a particularly acute sense of angst. The project depends on a singular piece of engineering. And Bertha’s building a highway for cars in a city where workers overcrowd buses and commuters wrap themselves in waterproof everything to bike in the rain.

Bedecked with amusingly cutesy illustrations, Bloomberg tells the exasperating tale of the giant tunnel drill dubbed Bertha, which began digging the new State Route 99 tunnel underneath downtown Seattle in summer 2013 to replace the current street-level Alaskan Way Viaduct and ideally clear up the city's waterfront for a park. Named after Seattle's only female mayor Bertha Knight Landes, Bertha is reportedly the world's biggest tunnel drill at five stories tall, built with a 25,000-horsepower motor, 260 steel teeth, and has an $80 million price tag.

Bertha near completion back in 2012 before its shipment to Seattle.

But in December 2013 after digging through about 1,000 feet, Bertha's seals busted from increasing temperatures and grit clogged up its teeth, so, it broke. Debate amongst Seattleites ensued. What the hell will happen to Big Bertha now? The project was originally scheduled to be done this November.

Last week, Washington State's contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners safely haul...

About that troubled Seattle Tunnel – an interview with local advocate Cary Moon

2015-01-06T18:44:00-05:00

If there’s anything positive to emerge from the current mess, it’s that local advocates like Cary Moon, who warned against building the tunnel in the first place, are commanding attention again. Moon recently took to the pages of the local alt-weekly, the Stranger, to argue that in light of the tunnel project’s spectacular, slow-motion meltdown, the city should explore other options.

Previously: In Seattle, a Sinking Feeling About a Troubled Tunnel

In Seattle, a Sinking Feeling About a Troubled Tunnel

2014-12-10T13:36:00-05:00

Ancient Egypt endured plagues of locusts. Seattle has its tunnel, which over the last year has featured a series of setbacks and fiascos that, depending on one’s outlook, can be the setup for a punch line, or an eye-rolling narrative of put-upon endurance. In the latest blow, project engineers said this week that 30 or more buildings in the historic Pioneer Square area [...] had unexpectedly settled, possibly because of water pumping related to the project.