Subject: Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program
Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2013 21:26:21 -0500
To: guyperea@live.com
From: wsdot@service.govdelivery.com

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This program is led by the Washington State Department of Transportation in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration, King County, City of Seattle and the Port of Seattle.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program News

April 3, 2013

Bertha arrived in Elliott Bay on April 2
She's here. After a 5,000 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean, Bertha, the world's largest-diameter tunneling machine, has arrived by ship in Seattle's Elliott Bay. If you missed her grand entrance, don't worry – the show is just getting started. In the coming days, crews will unload Bertha's 41 pieces and begin moving them to the pit where she'll start tunneling (pdf 485 kb) beneath Seattle this summer.

WSDOT will have a live webcam pointed at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 46 when Bertha's ship lands on Friday morning, and has posted a map of locations where the public can view unloading activities on a new Web page devoted to tracking Bertha's journey. Frequent updates will continue to come via a Twitter account, @BerthaDigsSR99, WSDOT launched on Bertha's behalf in December.

Because crews must work around regular port activities, there could be periods of inactivity or times when Bertha's ship has to leave her spot at the terminal to make room for an incoming cargo ship. Unloading Bertha's pieces and moving them to predetermined storage locations within the work zone could take several weeks, depending on ship traffic. Once crews finish building an 80-foot-deep launch pit, the pieces will be lowered into the pit for reassembly and testing, which will take two to three months.

Built in Osaka by Japanese firm Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Bertha is owned by Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP), WSDOT's contractor for the tunnel project. As owner of the machine, STP is responsible for ensuring it functions properly at all times. Accordingly, Bertha went through a succession of rigorous tests in Japan, and will be tested again after she's been reassembled in Seattle. She will officially become the property of STP once she's successfully tunneled approximately 1,000 feet.

In addition to building the launch pit, crews in Seattle are preparing the surrounding area for tunneling. That includes strengthening the soil and building protected underground work areas along the initial section of the tunnel route so crews can perform scheduled inspections of the machine before it begins tunneling beneath the city. Work is also under way near the north end of the Battery Street Tunnel to prepare the area where Bertha will emerge at the end of tunneling.

A 10-foot-long interactive model of Bertha is on display at Milepost 31, the project's information center in Pioneer Square. Photos of the machine and construction in Seattle are also available.

Bertha resources

Follow Bertha Web page: www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/About/FollowBertha
Celebrate Bertha's arrival at these locations: www.downtownseattle.com/bertha/
A viewer's guide to Bertha handout listing great viewing locations around Elliott Bay (pdf 204 kb)
Charting Bertha's course to Seattle handout (pdf 234 kb)
Check out this short video (or view on Youtube) to see the inner workings of a tunnel boring machine.
Go to Milepost 31 in Pioneer Square to see a motorized, 10-foot-long model of Bertha.
Our Flickr site has photos of crews building the machine Japan and crews in Seattle preparing for the machine's arrival.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program
Web: www.alaskanwayviaduct.org
Email: viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov
Phone: 1-888-AWV-LINE
Twitter: @BerthaDigsSR99

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