Big Bertha Stopped In Her Tracks.

[two_bit_score]

Here is a little more info on the pipe:

>>>The pipe is 8 inches in diameter and 115 feet long. In addition to its large size, the other thing that makes this pipe a tough egg to crack is that it’s made of steel—a material that Bertha simply cannot chew through. The WSDOT officials don’t yet have a plan for removing the pipe, though one possible method involves “tunnel-trained” divers working near the cutter face. The pipe was installed by the WSDOT in 2002 to measure groundwater during studies for the very Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project Bertha is carrying out. Bertha has dug 1,000 feet for the Washington State Route 99 tunnel beneath downtown Seattle. The new tunnel will carry a double-deck highway and stretch 1.7 miles. It will replace the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct. Replacing the viaduct will cost a total of $3.1 billion. Digging the tunnel alone will cost $2 billion. - See more at: A steel pipe is what brought Big Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine, to a halt | Equipment World | Construction Equipment, News and Information | Heavy Construction Equipment

 

[k0ua]

Talk about "Hoist by one's own petard"... with apologies to William Shakespeare.

 

[buickanddeere]

Anybody follow the progress or lack there of with the Niagara Falls boring project with "Big Becky" ? The German contractor took a detour into softer rock for quicker and cheaper boring. Problem was the soft rock began collapsing and the tunnel needed extra re-enforcement.

 

[aczlan]

Anybody follow the progress or lack there of with the Niagara Falls boring project with "Big Becky" ? The German contractor took a detour into softer rock for quicker and cheaper boring. Problem was the soft rock began collapsing and the tunnel needed extra re-enforcement.

Looks like it was finished in March 2013: Niagara Tunnel Project - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the reason it was moved was that the original route had too much soft rock.They moved into harder rock.

Aaron Z

 

[woodlandfarms]

I don't get how a machine that can bore through granite that is like 40 feet across can get stopped by a piece of steel. That is the thing I don't get.

As for DOT incompetence, try LADOT. They have messed up the 405 widening project it is a year or two behind and billions over budget. Lots of different reasons, none of them good.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Darn, it all there is no way you need a beautiful and curvaceous heroine to save the city from a steel pipe

 

[two_bit_score]

I don't get how a machine that can bore through granite that is like 40 feet across can get stopped by a piece of steel. That is the thing I don't get.

As for DOT incompetence, try LADOT. They have messed up the 405 widening project it is a year or two behind and billions over budget. Lots of different reasons, none of them good.

Good question.

The article linked above has this info: "Complications first arose in early December when metal pieces started to appear in the machine’s conveyor system. “Bertha’s rotation actually shoved a segment of pipe through the surface, prompting crews to remove a 55-foot-long piece,” according to the report. Nevertheless, the machine kept moving forward until the 6th when the team noticed the head rotating without catching soil. WSDOT officials say they are not sure yet if any moving parts are jammed from any pieces of steel that the machine consumed. - See more at: A steel pipe is what brought Big Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel-boring machine, to a halt | Equipment World | Construction Equipment, News and Information | Heavy Construction Equipment

 

[gghb]

This is just the latest on a long list of extreme stupitiy from wdot. Try out floating bridge sections that failed at a cost of Millions last year. a multi lane overpass that didn't meet in the middle the list of the stupity of wdot engineers is endless they need to hire private engeneering firm with errors and ommission insurance




a pissed off taxpayer in Wa

Greg

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I don't get how a machine that can bore through granite that is like 40 feet across can get stopped by a piece of steel. That is the thing I don't get. ...

I'm with you. An 8 inch steel pipe, basically a well casing, "should" have been chipped into itty bitty pieces by the borer. Oil well drillers can drive their drills into existing well casings without any problems (assuming they can hit it, which apparently they can with fairly good precision.) Which tells me that Big Bertha is really a badly designed and built piece of junk. Well, unless it was DELIBERATELY designed to soak more money out of the tax payers.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Which tells me that Big Bertha is really a badly designed and built piece of junk. Well, unless it was DELIBERATELY designed to soak more money out of the tax payers.

In which case it was extremely well designed -- two billion and counting!