The widest tunnel boring machine in the world made its way past North Beach en route to Elliott Bay at approximately 12 p.m. Tuesday. My Ballard readers emailed in to report sightings of the machine, affectionately known as “Bertha”, as it was being transported on board a Japanese ship to its final destination in downtown Seattle.
According to KOMO News, $80 million “Bertha” was built in a factory in Osaka and traveled by sea all the way from Japan, entering the Strait of Juan de Fuca early Tuesday morning.
The machine was named Bertha in honor of Seattle Mayor Bertha Knight Landes, who was elected in 1926. The name was chosen from submissions by students at Lincoln Elementary School in Hoquiam and Poulsbo Elementary School.
After the machine is unloaded at Terminal 46, it will be reassembled to dig the two-mile State Route 99 tunnel under downtown Seattle. The dig is estimated to take one year.
According to KOMO News, “the new section of Highway 99 replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct will have a diameter of nearly 58 feet and is scheduled to open in late 2015.”
Check out the photo above of “Bertha” passing North Beach, sent in by My Ballard reader Jennifer Clark.
