Update: WSDOT released a new drone video on Thursday (above) with additional footage and sound to replace the previous video. WSDOT says Bertha chewed through 1,000 tons of concrete before breaking through on Tuesday.
When Bertha the tunneling machine busted through the end wall on Tuesday to complete her long trek beneath Seattle, the view inside the pit where she emerged was nothing short of dramatic.
But one vantage point that the assembled media couldn’t match was that of a Washington State Department of Transportation drone which flew into the dust cloud and got up close to the machine’s churning cutterhead.
The drone footage captures huge chunks of the concrete wall falling into the bracing and the disassembly pit near the tunnel’s north portal.
As the drone ascends out of the pit, orange-vested workers and media members and officials can be seen along the pit’s northern edges.
More videos from the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project can be viewed on the WSDOT website.
