Viaduct

The troubles continue with Big Bertha. We’ve talked about the issues many times on the Emerald City Journal and really we are just beating a dead horse on this one. You can read about more Big Bertha troubles here. It was reported that the city is starting to notice cracks around the tunneling efforts. The Washington State Transportation Dept. is making the claim and the city council is starting to hear more about the issue now. This includes cracks in the streets, buildings, and even the settling of buildings in Seattle’s Pioneer Square area. It shouldn’t come as a surprise really. Water continues to flood the dig area and it’s being sucked out constantly. It turns out when you dig below the sea level – there is water!! Well… that is good to know I wonder how many millions they spent to figure that out. The Seattle Council is expect to hear more about the issue with the machine and area cracking today.

This is all one big disaster and this project shouldn’t have ever started. It’s all bad and it continues to get worse. Big Bertha continues to break down not only itself but the city is now cracking all over the place. Time to cut the losses the make it one big flat area. Tear down the Viaduct, add some roads which connects the area more efficiently, a park, lots of parking (where you overcharge as usual $8 per hour), and call it a day.

The history of Big Bertha:
Named after Seattle’s only female mayor Bertha Knight Landes. The machine itself was created by Hitachi Zosen Sakai Works located in Osaka, Japan. The assembly, however, was done in Seattle 2013. The measurement of the machine is 57ft in diameter and as of 2013 was the largest in the World that is known.

There continues to be issues with Big Bertha today. Back in early Dec 2013 the machines progress took it first hit. A pipe was discovered in the area and Big Bertha was not equipped to handle metal cutting. The pipe damaged the machine and replacement blades were needed. WSDOT stated that they knew about the pipe but believed it was removed. Responsibility of the issue is still unknown. As of Dec. 6th 2013 Bertha has only been able to push through 11% of the project length of the project (1,019ft).

Feb. 2014 it was reported that Big Bertha had been experiencing an issue with overheating and a seal (a main seal) was damaged and needed replacement. This set back is expected to take until March 2015. Dec. 2014 crews are working to lift the front end of the machine for the repair. As noted in the article there are also reports of cracking in the streets and buildings so the Seattle Council is getting briefed on that issue as well (Dec. 15th 2014).

What is the Alaskan Way Viaduct?
The Viaduct had good intentions but has turned into one of Seattle’s worst nightmares. In short, it’s a double decked section of elevated road in downtown Seattle. It runs from Route 99 along the Elliot Bay waterfront and then into downtown Seattle. It transports about 110,000 cars per day. It’s called the Alaskan Way Viaduct because it runs about the street Alaskan Way. There was an earthquake (Nisqually earthquake) in 2001 that damage the viaduct and it continues to be a burden. There has been lots of debates and arguments of what to do with it exactly. One thing that everyone agrees on is that something must be done with it. Some have argued to just remove it and build a park, however, the City of Seattle Council took the initiative and decided to an alternative route of boring a tunnel with a machine by the name of Big Bertha. At this point Big Bertha has failed. It sits broken waiting to be fixed. There are reports that the area has shift due to the tunnel/boring efforts and water continues to flood the hole (being pumped out). Again with good intentions, the tunnel project has failed costing millions (and soon billions) in tax revenue. The project is estimated to cost $4.25 billion dollars.

Injuries are at their highest right now (2015) which has resulted in lots of compensation claims. From crushed hands to injured knees people has started to get hurt and it’s costing more and more money to support this tunnel project failure. Next time the state or Seattle complains about how bad the roads are and how they need to have you pay more in taxes – just remember where all the money is going. It’s going into this money pit. How about the pay by the mile program they are going to propose to you soon? Should we have to pay by the mile in taxes because our city government can’t cut the cord or determine a failed project. We’ve lost so much road repair money on this project at this point it’s sad politics. It’s come to point where it’s so obvious a failure that their egos don’t want it to fail. So they are going to throw more money at it hoping one day they can call it a success. The tunnel machine Bertha hasn’t even moved in a while. It’s been broken for months and not expect to start again until August of this year. When do we call is quits on this project? The city is sinking, people are getting hurt, it’s costing billions and billions – let’s pull the plug and build some interconnect roads in that area. Just flatten it and cut our loses.

The transportation department is crying for more funds. There is not enough funds in the World to keep them going. They have great plans (dreams) but never any that actually works or gets a job done on time or on budget. It looks like a bunch of key stone cops running around where Big Berta should be digging. First of all to even think of digging a tunnel right along Elliot Bay, thru soil that is very unstable because it was filled in was stupid. I hate to say I TOLD YOU SO, but it’s sure true. I wrote an article when they were deciding whether to shore up the viaduct, tear it down and let traffic find its way, or make a shallow cut and cover, then of course those would not make World headlines or create publicity, and lots and lots of jobs so without the people agreeing that they wanted a tunnel, the powers to be decided to build a tunnel. McGinn ran his campaign on the promise that he would STOP the tunnel. Yeah right!!!! They started the dig July 30. This is Jan 23. 200 days later they can’t agree on how far they have even gone but give them the benefit of 1000 feet. The public has been spun a tail of mistruths from day one if we are to believe what Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson said last week. She said that the state had serious doubts about the drills “operations and critical systems” since the first day it started back in July. Wouldn’t that have been the time to speak up? One excuse after another has been given on the progress until lately the headlines in the Times and on the news have started sending up red flags. let me List a few headlines.

Dec 21, 2013  Bailing Bertha: Water rushes in. More wells needed to drain the digger face. More wells needed. 90,000 gallons could be behind it. etc etc. Well I got news for you that any idiot (or idiots) who thought they could dig a hole 110 feet deep right beside Elliot Bay at sea level of below and not run into water problems should definitely be on disability for mental problems not running this project. Then Dec 31,2013, headline was, Much poking but no clues on what’s blocking Bertha. Workers are burrowing holes to find what obstruction Bertha has ran into. They mentioned exotic things maybe from huge glaciers, maybe a locomotive or ship was buried there when it was filled in centuries ago, but the poking found nothing. Turns out that the mystery blockage was 119 ft of steel well pipe put there in 2000 by the Highway 99 projects own research crew. Then comes the blame game. I do not believe the tunnel project’s Director was told about the 8 inch thick pipe. Big Bertha uprooted 55 feet of the pipe on Dec 3, 2013. Right now the headlines have all changed. The headline of the Times Jan 17, 2014 was: “99 tunnel project’s director irked at state casting blame”. the article says that Seattle Partners project director Chris Dickson was surprised that the state blames them for the difficulties on the highway 99 tunnel project. Well who exactly would you blame if it is not the project director of the outfit hired to dig the tunnel?

There is a big opportunity for a lot of lawyers to make a bundle here. The whole mess can get stalled as it winds through the courts. The workers will all be paid to stand around or “do other small jobs” like they say they have been doing since the digging has stopped. Now it appears to be coming to a real expensive blockage of who told who what and when or why. One thing for sure the taxpayers are going to really get the shaft on this one. It was doomed from day one. All through the stoppage and non digging we have been told Bertha is working fine. Problems are always encountered on projects like these. That all studies have been done to guarantee this project will work just fine. The have discovered that the viaduct has settled 1/2 inch since the digging. How many 1/2 inches can the dirt settle around this project as it digs (if it ever does) under the historic buildings. The way this key stone cops project is going the hole they have dug may be filled in with the beautiful buildings they are going to dig under. I suggest it’s time to state the truth. Just tell us “this ain’t gonna work, no way, no how” and start a flat surface road or a shallow cut and cover. We can all stand to get screwed over, but we are all sick of being lied to. Such as another little headline. Disturbing Seawall news. There could be a 30 million overrun on this project. City transportation staff say there may be more troubles ahead due to the projects complexity.  What is even worse than that news is the fact those facts were known before the primary in the mayoral race but kept from the public or the Seattle City Council. Former Mayor Mike McGinn says the news was not buried. lol  Taxpayers can stand bad news, they can’t stand being flat out lied to. I hope when asked for a gas tax hike or anything else the legislature demands the STP and WSDT to lay out ALL THE FACTS, all the expenses. You cannot get our trust back very easy now. Our Washington is almost as bad as the other Washington. Please don’t say, “what difference does it make”. We know the difference between a liar and a spin doctor. You can’t send Susan Rice out to lie for you, so who will you send?

Lilly Marek