It was just after 9 p.m. and there we were in Tukwila, having just finished a soccer match. Should we make one last break for a joy ride on Seattle’s… Read More
The seven-story-deep receiving pit where Bertha the SR 99 tunneling machine ended her years-long run has been transformed in just a matter of months as the Seattle highway project races… Read More
More than a year before the new State Route 99 tunnel is scheduled to open to vehicles in Seattle, I took a ride Thursday from one end of the 2-mile… Read More
Bye bye, Bertha. The Seattle tunnel machine, which carved its way beneath the city to make way for a new waterfront portion of SR 99 to replace the Alaskan Way… Read More
Seven weeks of nearly non-stop work are taking a toll on Bertha. The SR 99 tunneling machine, which cut a nearly 2-mile path beneath Seattle over the past few years,… Read More
Over the years, Bertha the tunnel machine managed to successfully cut her way beneath Seattle and make room for a new SR 99 highway along the city’s waterfront. Now workers are cutting through Bertha,… Read More
This week in Seattle: Mayor Ed Murray is sued for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor while another mayoral contender announces her campaign, Seattle’s Uber union law is blocked,… Read More
The City of Seattle celebrated a big win this week, and one small loss. First up: Bertha, the one-of-a-kind tunnel boring machine that’s been making her way under Seattle’s downtown.… Read More
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… Read More
From the dark depths beneath Seattle, Bertha the SR 99 tunnel machine headed out of the muck and into daylight on Tuesday, completing a final push in a years-long effort to create space for a… Read More
After mining through more than 9,000 feet of Seattle underground, and rebounding from a lengthy breakdown and repair, Bertha the tunneling machine is poised to bust through its final obstacle on Tuesday. It’s… Read More
If you’ve forgotten what Bertha, the SR 99 tunneling machine, looks like after all these years, get ready to see her face again soon. Bertha’s massive cutterhead is just days… Read More
A 360-degree video shot inside the tunnel being built beneath Seattle gives viewers a unique new perspective of what it’s like to bore a 2-mile tube and construct a highway 200… Read More
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, insists he’s really going to build a tunnel-boring machine to do something about road traffic. But should he? Never say… Read More
It’s been a busy week deep beneath Seattle, as Bertha the tunneling machine keeps on trucking through Belltown. Two new videos from the Washington State Department of Transportation capture some… Read More
Spinning and pushing its way beneath Seattle, Bertha the SR 99 tunneling machine moved past the 5,280-foot mark on Thursday morning, creeping ever closer to an end point it’s expected… Read More
The SR 99 tunneling machine has passed the halfway point on its long journey beneath Seattle, and officials stood 10 stories below street level on Monday to show off where Bertha… Read More
The double-decker highway that will eventually run beneath Seattle will sit inside a concrete tube that is as tall as a five-story building. The rings that comprise that 2-mile-long tube… Read More
Seattleites caught up in the twists and turns and starts and stops of Bertha, the SR 99 tunneling machine, might lose sight of the fact that trailing behind her boring efforts… Read More
Next time I think about requesting a stand-up desk or I ask for the air conditioning to be adjusted near my desk, I’m going to think about the workers 120 feet below downtown Seattle.… Read More
Bertha, the SR 99 tunneling machine, is nearly a third of the way along its path to create a new underground roadway in Seattle. On Thursday it stopped for the… Read More
Since getting beyond the delicate work of crossing beneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct in May, Bertha the SR 99 tunneling machine has moved into a stretch that takes it below downtown Seattle… Read More
Seattle-area drivers will regain access to the Alaskan Way Viaduct in time for the Monday morning commute as Bertha the tunneling machine has made significant — and safe — progress… Read More
As Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct sat free of cars overhead and drivers attempted to move around the city during the roadway’s planned 2-week closure, a new drone video Tuesday showcased again what… Read More
Shortly before 8 a.m. on Friday, Seattle radio station KEXP played Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic” in a knowing nod to listeners facing day 1 of “carmageddon.” The planned 2-week closure of… Read More
Bertha, the giant tunneling machine making its way along Seattle’s waterfront, will start a delicate phase of its 9,270-foot journey on Friday as it begins to pass beneath the Alaskan Way… Read More
The slow crawl of Bertha, the tunneling machine making its way below Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct, hasn’t been without its share of frustrating setbacks. But when there is a glimpse at signs of progress,… Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday said he was “seriously disappointed” and ordering a stop to the Bertha tunneling machine along Seattle’s waterfront after a sinkhole formed near the project… Read More
Ah, Bertha. So many of Seattle’s frustrations and hopes are wrapped up in your drama. Yesterday, Bertha’s cutter head was extracted from the ground for repairs, a process that… Read More
Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine, today broke through a 20-foot wall of a repair pit, WSDOT reported. It will continue drilling two more feet before stopping to build another… Read More