Tag: WSDOT: Page 6

Roadbuilding

Big Bertha breaks through: tunnel-boring machine enters repair pit, ready for disassembly

Though she remains very far from being done, Big Bertha completed a very important leg in her journey beneath Seattle last week, breaking through a thick wall of concrete and into a 12-story pit. According to a report from the Associated Press, the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine moved 57 feet since February 17 to enter […]

March 9, 2015

Roadbuilding

Big Bertha wakes from one-year nap, begins to chew her way into repair pit

For the first time in more than a year, Big Bertha actually bored. According to a report from the Seattle Times, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, dormant deep below Seattle since late January 2014, has drilled forward a total of 6 feet between late Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon as crews begin the process of moving Bertha into […]

February 19, 2015

Roadbuilding

PHOTOS: Fixing Bertha: How workers dug a 12-story pit to raise world’s largest tunnel boring machine from the dead

No. 8 Story in 2015 « No. 9 No. 7 »   [imagebrowser id=194] The Big Bertha saga recently received a major update: crews with lead contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners have finished digging the 120-foot pit that will be used to access the world’s largest tunnel boring machine for necessary repairs. Now that the pit […]

February 11, 2015

Construction Equipment

Excavation stopped on Big Bertha repair pit due to major ground sinkage in area

The latest in a long string of delays to affect tunnel-boring machine Big Bertha has far greater implications than any of the others, this time threatening the structural integrity of the Alaskan Way viaduct and nearby buildings in the Seattle neighborhood of Pioneer Square. According to a report from The Seattle Times, Washington State Department of Transportation officials […]

December 15, 2014

Roadbuilding

PHOTOS: Six bridge/transportation projects receive 2014 PCI Awards

[imagebrowser id=19]   Winners of the 2014 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Design Awards competition have been announced, and six bridge/transportation projects were honored. “It was a tough competition,” said Don Powell Jr., principal-in-charge at BOKA Powell architecture firm and one of the building awards judges. “We saw many innovative applications of this technology that resulted […]

October 14, 2014

Roadbuilding

Watch time-lapse of Highway 99 construction

The Washington State Department of Transportation was kind enough to release the following time-lapse video of construction on Highway 99. The video shows crews working through the night to demolish and replace the section of SR 99 that crosses above Broad Street. “We thank commuters for their patience and their help,” said Dave Sowers, WSDOT’s […]

September 3, 2014

Construction Equipment

Truck hauling excavator collides with 5 bridges, taking a chunk out of each (PHOTOS)

While being hauled by a truck traveling through Thurston County, Washington, last week, an excavator’s boom collided with five different bridges before the driver finally pulled over. According to a report from The News Tribune in Tacoma, the Washington State Department of Transportation says that all five of the bridges will require repairs. The driver of the truck, […]

July 23, 2014

Roadbuilding

5 freeway bridges in need of repair following accident

A truck hauling an excavator caused some major problems for the Washington State Department of Transportation after colliding with five freeway overpasses. Cost of the repairs have not yet been determined, but all five bridges will need to be repaired. “It’s too early to say how much the repairs will cost,” Doug Adamson, WSDOT spokesman […]

July 18, 2014

Roadbuilding

State agencies focus on travelers for July 4th weekend

With many highway work zones closing for the long weekend, some state agencies are turning their focus to safety and ease of travel for drivers. The Illinois Tollway is putting a major focus on child safety this weekend. The agency suggests drivers in Illinois stop by a Kids Identification and Safety Seat (KISS) event to […]

July 3, 2014

Construction Equipment

Camera gives a live view of construction on Big Bertha’s 12-story repair access pit

Just because Big Bertha is down for nearly a year, that doesn’t mean work around the world’s largest tunnel boring machine has come to a halt. And now thanks to a camera set up by the Washington State Department of Transportation, anyone can watch as that work progresses. After completing one-tenth of the 1.7-mile State Route 99 […]

May 13, 2014

Roadbuilding

Washington State’s Willapa River Bridge opens

The Willapa River Bridge on State Route 6 in Pacific County, Washington is set to open to motorists on Wednesday, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced this week. WSDOT noted that contractor Rotschy Inc. intends to shift traffic to the new bridge by Wednesday afternoon. Construction on the 36-foot-wide concrete bridge began last […]

April 29, 2014

Roadbuilding

WSDOT, U.S. DOT respond to landslide covering Washington State Route 530

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is taking action to keep drivers safe after a landslide overtook State Route 530 near the town of Oso on Saturday. The state Department of Natural Resources estimates the slide to be 1500 feet long, 4,400 feet wide and more than 600 feet high, with debris about 30-40 […]

March 25, 2014