SR 99 tunneling machine tweets her name: Bertha
Posted on 12/11/2012
by Louise Ping
SR 99 tunneling machine tweets her name: Bertha The world’s largest-diameter tunneling machine now has a name, a face and a voice. Meet Bertha, the five-story-tall steel behemoth that will begin boring the SR 99 tunnel beneath downtown Seattle next summer. The Washington State Department of Transportation introduced Bertha via Twitter yesterday, capping off a whirlwind week that included the installation of her signature component, the selection of her name by contest-winning students and her launch into the Twittersphere. She’s green and white and ready to dig – and chat. “So nice to finally have an identity,” @BerthaDigsSR99 tweeted Monday. “Maybe now the folks at the passport agency will take my application.” WSDOT officials are counting on that as Bertha’s journey to – and eventually beneath – Seattle draws closer. Bertha’s name was chosen as part of a contest for kindergarten through 12th-grade students. Proposed names had to be female and have significance to Washington state heritage, life, nature, transportation or engineering. Bertha was selected from more than 150 entries by a panel of judges that included Gov. Chris Gregoire and Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond. Elected mayor of Seattle in 1926, Bertha Knight Landes was the first woman to lead a major American city. The winning name was submitted by two entrants: Darryl Elves’ fifth-grade class at Poulsbo Elementary School and Elijah Beerbower, a second-grader at Lincoln Elementary School in Hoquiam. All of the winners will be invited to Bertha’s dedication ceremony in Seattle next summer. They will also receive special t-shirts and the honor of having the name they chose painted on the side of the machine. Crews in Japan are putting the finishing touches on the machine. On Friday they installed its 57.5-foot-diameter cutterhead. Bertha will officially become the property of WSDOT’s contractor, Seattle Tunnel Partners, in late December. She’ll then be disassembled and loaded onto a ship scheduled to arrive in Seattle next spring. Tunneling will start next summer to the west of Seattle’s stadiums, where crews are currently building the massive pit down which the machine will begin its underground journey. Pics of Bertha http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157631880763139/ Plan for two straight weekends of SR 99 lane and ramp closures near Seattle’s stadiums Drivers should plan for delays on southbound State Route 99 through downtown Seattle the next two weekends. Crews working for WSDOT will reduce SR 99 to one lane near the stadiums and close the southbound off-ramp to South Atlantic Street. During the closures crews will drive more than 50 pilings to support construction of the new South Atlantic Street overpass. Lane and ramp closures Dec. 14-17 weekend
Dec. 21-24 weekend
Construction on the overpass started last summer and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013. The overpass will improve mobility by allowing freight haulers and commuters to bypass the rail crossing near the entrance to the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 46.
Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program As a public agency, the Washington State Department of Transportation is subject to the State’s Public Records Act (RCW 42.56). E-mail addresses may be made available to anyone requesting them for noncommercial purposes. This service is provided by the Washington State Department of Transportation. Contact us at WebFeedback@wsdot.wa.gov
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