bertha – Page 5 – Alliance for Pioneer Square

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Update – May 2013

www.FirstThursdaySeattle.comMilepost 31 Speaker Series – Preparing for the SR 99 tunneling machine’s summer launch

After a 5,000 mile journey from Japan and 10 days of unloading, Bertha, the world’s largest-diameter tunneling machine, is officially on Seattle soil. Join us at this month’s speaker series for a project update including a behind-the-scenes look at the machine’s arrival. We’ll also talk about what’s next for Bertha as crews assemble her 41 pieces in the launch pit and prepare for the start of tunneling this summer.

6 to 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 2

Milepost 31

211 First Ave. S., Seattle

Admission is free.

After the talk, be sure to leave enough time to explore the rest of the First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square. Free parking is available for First Thursday art walk patrons in Pioneer Square. Please visit www.FirstThursdaySeattle.com for more information about participating garages.

What’s next for Bertha, the SR 99 tunneling machine

Now that spring is here, get outside and take a self-guided walking tour along the paved path west of the work site and watch as crews prepare to reassemble Bertha. Many of Bertha’s pieces including the cutterhead and trailing gear are visible in the work zone. Spot them now before the massive red crane begins lowering Bertha’s pieces into the launch pit. Reassembling and testing the machine will take two to three months. Bertha is scheduled to start digging this summer.

Building one road above another: the South Atlantic Street overpass

Crews continue to build the new South Atlantic Street overpass over SR 99 to the west of Seattle’s stadiums. The wooden forms you see are called falsework, which is a temporary structure that creates a mold where crews will pour concrete to build the permanent structure. Scheduled to open in late 2013, this overpass will allow traffic to bypass frequent train blockages on South Atlantic Street.

For more information about the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, visit www.alaskanwayviaduct.org. You can also track Bertha’s progress on Twitter by following @BerthaDigsSR99.

Get ready, Seattle – Bertha’s here

The journey started in Japan with a single ship. It ended 5,000 miles later in the waters of Elliott Bay, with the much-anticipated arrival of Bertha, the massive machine that will dig the SR 99 tunnel beneath downtown Seattle.

The five-story-tall machine arrived in Seattle on April 2 aboard the Jumbo Fairpartner, the 475-foot-long vessel that carried it across the Pacific Ocean from the manufacturing plant in Osaka, Japan. Built by Japanese firm Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Bertha was taken apart into 41 separate pieces, the largest weighing about 900 tons, before being loaded on the Jumbo Fairpartner last month.

WSDOT will have a live webcam pointed at Bertha’s arrival point once the ship is berthed, along with a map of locations where the public can view the machine’s arrival and unloading. Both can be found on a Web page devoted to tracking Bertha’s journey. The most frequent updates will come via Bertha’s Twitter account. A 10-foot-long interactive model of the machine is on display at Milepost 31, the project’s information center in Pioneer Square, and photos of the machine and construction in Seattle are also available.

In the coming days, crews will offload Bertha’s pieces at Terminal 46 and transport them to storage areas throughout the work zone, which is just east of the terminal. Reassembly and testing of the machine will take two to three months. Tunneling is scheduled to start this summer.

For more information about the SR 99 Tunnel Project, visit www.alaskanwayviaduct.org.

Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program Construction Update – March 2013

Milepost 31 Speaker Series – Preparing for the SR 99 tunneling machine’s arrival

Bertha, the world’s largest-diameter tunnel boring machine, is being shipped from Japan to Seattle this spring. Before she arrives, join us for an engaging discussion about how crews will transport her 40-some pieces from a ship at the Port of Seattle to the 80-foot-deep pit to the west of the stadiums where she’ll begin tunneling this summer. You’ll also get a sneak peek at the support facilities we’re building near the launch pit, including a soil-removing conveyor belt that will stretch a whopping two miles by the end of construction.

6 to 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 7

Milepost 31

211 First Ave. S., Seattle

Admission is free.

After the talk, be sure to leave enough time to explore the rest of the First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square. Milepost 31 is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and stays open until 8 p.m. on First Thursdays. Free parking is available for First Thursday art walk patrons in Pioneer Square. Please visit www.FirstThursdaySeattle.com for more information about participating garages.

And don’t forget you can track Bertha’s journey to Seattle on Twitter by following @BerthaDigsSR99.

Archaeology and the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program

Kevin Bartoy, Cultural Resources Lead for the Washington State Department of Transportation, recently led a discussion at the Museum of History and Industry’s History Café lecture series. Kevin described how state projects must consider cultural resources and some of the mitigation strategies developed as part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program. Kevin went on to discuss the history of Pioneer Square and SODO, focusing on the changing coastline, historical development and the diversity of uses over time.

To dig into the history of the area and discover how Pioneer Square continues to be a hub of transportation and extreme engineering, visit the project information, Milepost 31, at 211 First Ave. S. A video of Kevin’s lecture is also available on the KCTS website.

For more information about the SR 99 Tunnel Project, visit www.alaskanwayviaduct.org.