Tag: Alaskan Way Viaduct

Roadbuilding

WSDOT wins $57.2M suit over Bertha’s breakdowns during Alaskan Way Viaduct project

The Washington State Department of Transportation has won a $57.2 million jury award in its lawsuit over delays in the Alaskan Way Viaduct project due to tunnel boring machine Big Bertha’s breakdown in 2013. The project was delayed for about three years as the contractor team of Seattle Tunnel Partners worked to get Bertha, then […]

December 31, 2019

Roadbuilding

Demolition of Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct to wrap up end of September

Removal of the old Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle is expected to wrap up by the end of September, ENRNorthwest reports. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Kiewit, the contractor, have completed 80 percent of the double-decker concrete viaduct’s removal from the waterfront and are entering the final phases. According to the news […]

September 19, 2019

Roadbuilding

Rubble from Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct will be used to fill Battery Street Tunnel

The concrete comes from the Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition and will fill the now-decommissioned Battery Street Tunnel. Details on Equipment World.

June 5, 2019

Roadbuilding

State Route 99 closed in Seattle for tunnel alignment; crews making good progress

With the closure of State Route 99 due to tunnel work, construction crews are on schedule with good weather, including unusually warm daytime temperatures.

January 18, 2019

Roadbuilding

Seattle’s SR 99 tunnel, dug by TBM Bertha, nears completion

The State Route 99 tunnel in Seattle, Washington is officially getting its stripes which is a sign that the project is almost completed. Get more details here.

September 7, 2018

Roadbuilding

Last road panel installed in Seattle SR-99 tunnel dug by Bertha

The Washington State Department of Transportation reports that the last of 1,152 road panels have been installed on the new State Route 99 tunnel, which will replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The panels form the lower deck of the double-deck highway, which will allow drivers to travel under downtown Seattle as a bypass or stay […]

April 2, 2018

Roadbuilding

Final piece of Bertha removed from Seattle’s SR 99 tunnel

The last piece of Bertha, the world’s largest tunneling machine, has been removed from Seattle’s SR 99 tunnel, marking the end of a four-month disassembly process. The machine finished its boring of the tunnel in early April, work that lasted four years. This breakthrough was roughly three years later than the original projected completion date, […]

August 25, 2017

Roadbuilding

WSDOT creates online open house for Alaskan Way Viaduct demolition

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has created an online open house to offer the public a view of plans to demolish the old Alaskan Way Viaduct after the new SR 99 tunnel opens in early 2019. Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, finished the outer wall of the SR 99 tunnel in […]

August 8, 2017

Roadbuilding

Bertha sees daylight, finishes 1.7-mile boring work for SR 99 tunnel

Sixty-four years after the Alaskan Way Viaduct was first opened to traffic, Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, broke through the end of a more than 9,270-foot tunnel for Seattle’s SR 99. “This is a historic moment in our state’s transportation history,” says Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee. “Innovation and perseverance are the engines […]

April 6, 2017

Roadbuilding

Bertha stopped after veering off course in home stretch of Seattle’s SR 99 tunnel

Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) stopped Bertha, the largest tunnel boring machine in the world, on Feb. 28 to make adjustments before it continues on its last 1,000 feet of the 9,270 tunnel for SR 99. Officials report recent surveys indicate the machine is potential out of alignment by several inches. “STP is conducting additional survey […]

March 3, 2017

Roadbuilding

Bertha’s repairs push Seattle’s SR99 tunnel $200 million over budget. And it could get worse

Following two years of costly repairs and downtime, Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, is $223 million over budget, with Washington state facing a lawsuit from the prime contractor on the State Route 99 tunnel project that, if successful, would double that amount. According to a report from the Seattle Times, the 1.7-mile tunnel, which will replace the […]

July 27, 2016

Roadbuilding

As Bertha visits the dentist, a look at how this machine digs and builds the SR99 tunnel at the same time

Bertha, the world’s largest and perhaps most beleaguered tunnel boring machine, has been halted deep below the streets of Seattle once again. But this time the stoppage is for routine maintenance following significant progress. Plus, the stoppage gives us an opportunity to look at an often overshadowed portion of this project: construction of the State Route […]

July 18, 2016