Tag: washington state dot: Page 2

Roadbuilding

Bertha back to drilling after suspension is “conditionally lifted”

Bertha hasn’t been blessed with the best of luck in Seattle, but the world’s largest tunnel boring machine is back to drilling again for now. The Seattle Tunnel Partners announced that the Washington State Department of Transportation has decided to conditionally lift the suspension for cause that Gov. Jay Inslee enacted in January following the formation of a sink […]

February 26, 2016

Roadbuilding

Washington governor halts Bertha tunneling after sinkhole forms

Bertha didn’t get back to work for long. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has put the brakes on the massive tunnel boring machine once again after a sinkhole formed. According to King 5, Inslee announced on Thursday that the machine boring the tunnel for the new State Route 99 in Seattle had to be halted over safety […]

January 18, 2016

Roadbuilding

Bertha breaks through repair wall and begins tunneling soil once more

It’s taken two years in repairs and delays, but Bertha has broken through her concrete repair pit. The Washington State Department of Transportation said in a press release last week that the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine had broken through the pit and mined 73 feet in a little more than three weeks. The Seattle Tunnel Partners were […]

January 13, 2016

Roadbuilding

Seattle voters approve levy for $930 million transportation funding plan

Voters in Seattle voted yes to the “Transportation Levy to Move Seattle,“ which will provide $930 million over nine years to fund transportation projects in the city through a property tax increase. The levy would cost the homeowner of a median priced home in the Seattle, $450,000, roughly $275 per year. Homeowners have been paying […]

November 5, 2015

Roadbuilding

Washington State DOT releases public transportation plan for comment

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is seeking public input on its recently released draft transportation plan. The plan puts forth WSDOT’s goals in improving the state’s public transportation system, which includes bike and pedestrian paths. “All of our lives are better because of public transportation,” WSDOT Assistant Secretary Amy Scarton said. “Whether it’s […]

October 27, 2015

Roadbuilding

Washington, Oregon DOTs team up on electronic signs to display travel times between the two states

New traffic signs have gone up in Oregon and Washington to alert drivers to travel times to popular locations between the two states. The Washington State Department of Transportation said in a press release the joint effort between WSDOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation placed three signs in Oregon and four in Washington earlier […]

October 26, 2015

Roadbuilding

PHOTOS > Big Bertha gets her head together: How to repair the world’s largest tunnel machine

With the final repairs having been made earlier this summer and Big Bertha finally picked back together underground, Washington State Department of Transportation and Seattle Tunnel Partners crews are hopeful that their 18-month nightmare is nearing a close. Now two years behind schedule, the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine is pegged for a return to digging in […]

September 29, 2015

Roadbuilding

Stronger Big Bertha cutter head lowered back into its pit for tunneling

Big Bertha’s massive cutter head is back underground after months of repairs were made to get the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine back to work. According to the Seattle Times, Big Bertha’s new, stronger front end took the 120-foot dive into the pit Tuesday as Dutch lifting company Mammoet lowered the 2,000-ton machine back down. In […]

August 27, 2015

Roadbuilding

Washington state DOT testing zig-zagged road lines to get drivers’ attention

Washington is trying out a European approach to getting drivers attention at a busy crossing path. According to KIRO TV, the Washington State Department of Transportation recently painted the zig-zagged lanes on a state highway in Arlington, Washington. WSDOT traffic engineer Mark Bandy said he got the idea from spending part of his youth in […]

August 20, 2015

Roadbuilding

Cigarettes are causing roadside fires in Washington almost daily

Cigarette-sparked fires are becoming a daily occurrence in Washington, and the problem has worsened to the point that the state’s Department of Transportation has issued a warning. According to the Seattle Times, the latest fire caused by cigarette butts thrown from a vehicle shut down traffic on Interstate 5 on Thursday during rush hour near Lacey, Washington. The […]

July 28, 2015

Roadbuilding

Big Bertha is set to start drilling again in November after extensive repairs, testing

The world’s largest tunnel-boring machine is now scheduled to get back to work on November 23, nearly two years after it overheated and stalled while digging beneath Seattle. The Seattle Times reported that the construction team handling the massive undertaking of drilling the 1.8-mile Highway 99 tunnel released the new timetable and a new completion date of […]

July 21, 2015

Roadbuilding

Crews begin installation of Big Bertha’s new seal system

While the rest of her massive frame waits below ground, Big Bertha has undergone the most pivotal portion of her badly-needed brain surgery. According to a report from the Puget Sound Business Journal, repair crews with Seattle Tunnel Partners, the lead contractor on the drilling of a new State Route 99 tunnel beneath Seattle, have begun […]

June 16, 2015