SEATTLE — The world’s largest-diameter tunnel boring machine is being loaded in 41 pieces onto a ship in Japan for a trip to Seattle.
The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce reported that the $80 million machine called Bertha was built at a factory in Osaka and is expected to arrive by the end of the month.
Bertha will be reassembled in a pit to tunnel a new Highway 99 route under downtown Seattle to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The tunnel will have a diameter of nearly 58 feet and is scheduled to open in late 2015.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
