Bertha, the boring machine (not literally) that will drill underneath Seattle to help create a tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, is officially on its way from Japan and is expected to arrive at Terminal 46 on or around April 1.
Bertha will be tweeting along the way and has already sent out one to get us started...
I'm in 41 pieces packed tightly on a ship. It's 54°.Not what I had in mind when they told me I was taking a cruise, but I'm on my way.
— Bertha (@BerthaDigsSR99) March 19, 2013
So what will happen when Bertha gets here?
When Bertha arrives, crews will offload her pieces and transport them to storage areas throughout the work zone. Once the launch pit is finished, in late April, the stored pieces will be lowered into the launch pit. Reassembly and testing of the machine will take about two months. Get to know Bertha, she's gonna be moving in for a while.
· Tunnel boring machine on its way to Seattle [King5]
· @BerthaDigsSR99 [Twitter]