Retrieval pit digging already behind schedule
Workers in Seattle have encountered difficulties in digging a 120-foot retrieval shaft, which will allow for a crane to lift the tunnel boring machine Bertha’s front end to street level and begin making necessary repairs. Bertha has been largely idle since December 2013 when its main bearing was damaged.
Seattle Tunnel Partners, the contractors responsible for the Alaskan Viaduct Replacement, released its repair plans in June. Installation of a concrete ring in the retrieval shaft was on schedule as of late June, but subsequent work has slowed, according to a report from The Seattle Times. Washington State Department of Transportation has not yet released details of the problem, but it is expected to do so this week. The update will include an update from Seattle Tunnel Partners.
Seattle Tunnel Partners scheduled a Bertha’s restart for March 2015, a deadline it may still be able to meet because of extra days built into the repair timeline. In fact, a March restart is likely, Matt Preedy, deputy Highway 99 director for WSDOT, told a City Council waterfront committee meeting last week, unless some kind of unexpected damage is found when Bertha’s drive parts are disassembled. Crews are working 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the access shaft.
*NEWS SOURCE
