Shock of all shocks, it looks like the Highway 99 tunnel dig will be delayed before it even starts.
The culprit? The rotary drive that spins the cutter head, whatever that is, which was discovered to be damaged in its Japanese factory before being shipped over.
True, it's only going to be a delay of a couple weeks and "doesn't affect the overall schedule, as far as completion and turning it over to traffic in December 2015." However, there's a whole bunch of eye-rolling folks in Seattle who just said to themselves, "and so it begins." The tunnel, which will run under Seattle from SoDo to South Lake Union, will cost roughly $2B.
Gird your loins, Seattle taxpayers.
· Highway 99 tunnel machine damage could delay dig [Seattle Times]