The Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) has completed most of the repair and reassembly of its tunneling machine, Bertha, installing a spare main bearing encircled by a new bull gear. STP will lower the front end of it into the access pit along the Seattle waterfront once the main bearing’s rollers and cages are in place.
Tunneling is scheduled to resume Nov. 23 and is estimated to take about a year to complete.
STP and Bertha are responsible for digging a 2-mile-long tunnel beneath downtown Seattle to replace the SR 99 Alaskan Way Viaduct, a more than 60-year-old double-deck highway that sunk several inches during a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in February 2001.
Tunneling started July 30, 2013, but Bertha overheated and stalled Dec. 6, 2013, and since then has moved only far enough to reach a repair fault. Contractors needed months to dig the access vault and Bertha was finally moved into the vault in February of this year.
Global Tunneling, Drilling Equipment Markets to Expand by 2018
The tunneling and drilling equipment market is projected to expand by 2018, according to The Global Tunneling and Drilling Equipment Market Report.
The global tunneling and drilling equipment market was valued at $16.5 billion in 2013, with Asia-Pacific being the largest regional market with 48.7 percent. Europe (25.9 percent) and North America (15.6 percent) followed.
European market shares are expected to reach 27.7 percent by 2018. Other markets are also expected to see increases, including North America, 16.5 percent; Latin America, 6.7 percent; and the Middle East, 4.2 percent.
