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Bertha Budges But is Bogged Down by a Barge

Bertha is bogged down again, but it isn't her fault this time. Honest. Bertha the boring machine was finally making progress carving through Seattle's basement but ran into a problem. All of that dirt has to go somewhere. Rather than haul it all way in dump trucks through downtown, or in rail cars, the dirt is being loaded onto barges to be dumped in different places depending on the quality of the dirt. Some dirt is clean. Some dirt is dirty. Regardless, the dirt is dumped onto barges; and one of the barges tipped enough to dump some into the bay. Until the barge can be safed and a replacement brought in, Bertha has to sit there, slowly idling to keep from getting stuck, but moving very little so very little dirt has to be piled up.

· As Bertha's Big Delay Turns One Year Old, It Gets Longer [CS]
· Bertha stops digging again, but this time it's because of a barge [ST]
· All Bertha coverage [CS]