BREAKING: Seattle's BIG BERTHA DRILL hits mystery object, indian artifacts, Racisim, UPDATED- STOPPAGE

updated:
SEATTLE (AP) - A Washington state Transportation Department official says it could take "several days or a week" for the state to come up with a plan and consult with Indian tribes before archaeologists can begin sifting through a deposit of shells found above the stalled boring machine for a tunnel under downtown Seattle.


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SEATTLE (AP) - A group of African American workers is suing the companies hired to dig Sound Transit's light rail tunnel between the University of Washington and Capitol Hill in Seattle, saying they were assigned demeaning tasks and quickly fired because of their race.

The eight workers filed a complaint in U.S. District Court this month. Sound Transit investigated and said it found troubling indications that black workers were more likely to be let go than their white colleagues.

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NEW PICS OF THE PIPE!!!!


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SEATTLE - The Transportation Department and contractors building a highway tunnel under downtown Seattle are trying to identify the mystery object that has blocked their tunnel boring machine - but probably won't know for sure until Friday.

The machine called Bertha ran into something last week and was shut down Saturday about 1,000 feet from the start. The $80 million machine is designed to break up boulders, so there's speculation about what it hit.

Engineers are considering drilling down 60 feet to the object as one of the ways to break up or remove the obstruction. A large crane equipped with a drill bit was brought to the site Wednesday morning.

Experts estimate it will take until Friday to identify the obstruction.

The nearly two-mile tunnel is supposed to be completed by the end of 2015, creating a four-lane replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct on Highway 99.

But already it has experienced at least three delays - one caused by union picketing over work assignments, another by a sinkhole near Jackson Street and now the mystery object.

WSDOT says the latest trouble started Friday when Bertha's five-story tall cutter head felt some resistance, then stopped. WSDOT says engineers with Seattle Tunnel Partners, the company in charge of building the viaduct replacement tunnel, have been consulting with other experts to identify the obstruction - whether it's natural or manmade.

They say Bertha wasn't damaged in any way. They're keeping her idle until they decide whether crews need to dig the obstruction out from above or if Bertha can charge through it.

Bertha has dug 1,000 feet of tunnel since July. She's sitting 60-feet underground between South Jackson Street and South Main Street among a mix of native dirt and fill tossed into place from as early as the 1800s.

She has just 450 more feet to travel before leaving that fill behind. It will also mark the end of phase one in the $4 billion tunnel project that will stretch 1.7 miles from adjacent to Safeco Field to Battery Street.

WSDOT doesn't know how long Bertha will remain stuck, but they say it's too early to say whether the delay will affect the project's bottom line or it's scheduled opening in late 2015.


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SEATTLE — The deep-tunnel boring machine tasked to dig the new State Route 99 tunnel was at least partially blocked by a steel pipe, the Washington State Department of Transportation said Friday.

BerthaLaunchpit
Bertha in the launch pit (Courtesy: WSDOT)

The tunnel machine, nicknamed Bertha, has been stalled since Dec. 6. Crews working to determine what stalled the machine found a 8-inch diameter steel pipe protruding through one of the machine’s many openings in the cutterhead Thursday.

Officials said the pipe was installed by the WSDOT in 2002 following the Nisqually earthquake to better understand how groundwater flowed through the area. The pipe was known to WSDOT prior to the dig


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SEATTLE -- Ancient Indian artifacts could lie in the shaft contractors need to dig to repair the broken machine boring a highway tunnel under downtown Seattle.

The Transportation Department's cultural resources manager, Steve Archer, says workers started drilling up to 60 holes Thursday to determine if archaeological work is needed. The shafts will be dug through an area filled-in years ago along the Seattle waterfront and will be between 20-40 feet deep. They have no estimated timeline on how long it will take.
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update: SEATTLE — Seattle Tunnel Partners, the contractor behind the troubled tunnel project to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, filed a $125 million bill with the state because of the Bertha work stoppage, the Washington State Department of Transportation confirmed Tuesday.

“WSDOT received a $125 million request from Seattle Tunnel Partners for the stoppage,” the department said. “WSDOT has denied that request.

“WSDOT and STP will use processes laid out in the contract to determine the next steps and who is responsible for costs associated with the stoppage,” the statement said. “We have seen no evidence that suggests WSDOT or taxpayers will be responsible for costs associated with the current delay.”


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Bertha's a bust. Now, the state transportation secretary says there’s a risk the broken tunnel machine could be abandoned – yes, abandoned – underground.

Peterson provided KIRO 7 with documents she says prove the contractor knew about the steel pipe.

She also acknowledged the dispute over who pays for Bertha's troubles could end up in court.

Seattle Tunnel Partners has said it will begin digging a repair shaft for Bertha next month to access and replace the main bearing and the seals that protect it.

STP plans to resume tunneling in March 2015 and deliver the tunnel by November 2016, which is the date in the state's original request for bidders, but later than the contract date of January 2016.

Regarding the timeline, Peterson said "I remain skeptical that they can make November '16 until I have more information because right now the amount of information I have is just incomplete

Last Edited by Xray J on 10/25/2014 02:38 PM