Architecture

World's largest tunneling machine digs in

World's largest tunneling machine digs in
The world’s largest tunnel boring machine is being put to work in Seattle
The world’s largest tunnel boring machine is being put to work in Seattle
View 14 Images
The world’s largest tunnel boring machine is being put to work in Seattle
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The world’s largest tunnel boring machine is being put to work in Seattle
Cross section and map view of the SR 99 tunnel route
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Cross section and map view of the SR 99 tunnel route
Detail view of the cutterhead
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Detail view of the cutterhead
CAD view of the tunnel area at the start of digging
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CAD view of the tunnel area at the start of digging
View of the cutterhead as Bertha digs in
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View of the cutterhead as Bertha digs in
CAD view of the tunnel area under the city center
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CAD view of the tunnel area under the city center
CAD view of the tunnel area at its deepest point
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CAD view of the tunnel area at its deepest point
CAD view of the tunnel area as it passes under the Seattle monorail and approaches the surface
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CAD view of the tunnel area as it passes under the Seattle monorail and approaches the surface
Bertha cutting into the trench wall
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Bertha cutting into the trench wall
The steel brace used to push off Bertha
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The steel brace used to push off Bertha
The conveyor belt system for removing soil from the area on the upper left
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The conveyor belt system for removing soil from the area on the upper left
Close up view of the cutterhead as it starts work
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Close up view of the cutterhead as it starts work
Inside Bertha's control room inside the machine
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Inside Bertha's control room inside the machine
The world’s largest tunnel boring machine is being put to work in Seattle
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The world’s largest tunnel boring machine is being put to work in Seattle
View gallery - 14 images

Bertha, the world’s largest tunnel boring machine (TBM), started digging under Seattle on Tuesday as it chewed through the north wall of the 80-ft (24.3 m) deep trench where it was assembled after being shipped in pieces from its manufacturer in Japan. Designed to bore a 1.7 mi (2.7 km) tunnel for State Route 99 (SR 99) under the Seattle city center to replace the old viaduct, the machine will both dig out soil and lay a concrete tunnel wall as it goes.

Though Bertha’s construction is one for the record books, it’s only half the story. The other is the SR 99 tunnel itself. The city of Seattle rests on a remarkably geology and the design of both Bertha and the tunnel reflect this. Almost the whole area is one huge glacial redeposit with a complex mixture of soils – some of which is less stable than one would like in an earthquake zone. Furthermore, the city center is heavily built up with the tunnel has to travel under about 160 buildings and the viaduct, which is still in use.

There’s already been a lot of digging in Seattle with the usual cellars, sewage lines, railway tunnels, road tunnels, pedestrian tunnels. And then there’s the famous “underground city” that was buried and built upon after a fire devastated the city in the 19th century. Even before tunneling began, old deposits of fill soils had to be removed and areas strengthened to withstand the passage of the TBM.

Inside Bertha's control room inside the machine
Inside Bertha's control room inside the machine

The tunneling route is divided into ten zones. The first of these is where Bertha will go slow, only about six feet (1.8) per day, as the engineers monitor the huge machine. One drawback of building something unique for a unique job in a unique location is that it isn't possible to thoroughly test it until it’s actually on the job. As Bertha begins it’s job, the engineers will keep an eye on its workings. There are also three "safe havens” where the crew can crawl forward to inspect the front of the machine. Once the engineers are satisfied, Bertha will speed up until it’s pushing its 326 ft (99.3 m) length at 35 ft (10 m) per day.

“We designed the project so that we would have opportunities to test the machine and make sure she’s functioning properly before we get beneath downtown,” says Linea Laird, WSDOT administrator for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program. “If Bertha was learning to ride a bike, this initial section would be her training wheels.”

The steel brace used to push off Bertha
The steel brace used to push off Bertha

As Bertha digs beneath the city, it will clear the bottom of the viaduct pilings by 15 ft (4.5 m) and will eventually reach a depth of over 200 ft (61 m) in Zone 7. The machine will pass through areas of such as sand, gravel and one in particular of dense clay requiring soil conditioners to aid the process due to a lack of groundwater. Eventually, it will pass under a railway tunnel dating from 1904, a major sewer line, the Battery Street Tunnel, where SR 99 currently runs, and even under the foundations of Seattle’s famous monorail.

In 14 months, the SR 99 tunnel will breach the surface near the intersection of Sixth Avenue North and Harrison Street and the new highway section is scheduled to open in 2015.

The video below shows the cutting head being tested earlier in July.

Source: WSDOT

Bertha's cutterhead spins in Seattle

View gallery - 14 images
6 comments
6 comments
Andrew Zuckerman
Is that as fast as it rotates? I think we should call John Henry.
Dave Ussery
So what happens when an earthquake hits?
Stephen N Russell
cant we lisc & build TBMs here???
Bruce Sherman
I live in Seattle, and don't qualify as a quake expert, but being in this relatively loose glacial soil, as opposed to tunneling directly through a fault line should give them some help.
If the big one goes off here, the tunnel won't be our first worry.
It done's need to rotate all that fast. It is capable of supplying tremendouse pressure against the wall, and as big as it is in diameter, even a few rpm's give it fairly good cutter speed. Power or maybe torque is what is cutting, not kinetic energy in the form of speed.
rollzone
hello. these machines are fantastic. driving across the country, through and mostly over the Rocky Mountains, i really wish our phony government would get its ducks in a row, behind tunneling: to revitalize the interstate system. there are miles of mountain climbs and descents, that with this equipment, would not be necessary in today's interstate commerce. the safety, and wear and tear on the trucking industry, would be greatly improved with more tunnels through the mountains all over this country. tunneling would help reduce the winter hazard of mountain crossings. the savings to everyone would be enormous. they talk about improving our infrastructure. this is what can be done. best wishes going under Seattle!
Scraphound
Los Angeles Department of Transportation might be interested in this machine after Seattle is done. The city of South Pasadena has blocked the construction of the 210 freeway through their town since the mid-1970s' - the resulting no-freeway zone results in huge traffic jambs every day. They've been seriously looking at drilling a 6 mile long tunnel under South Pasadena for years. If they can pick up the drill second-hand from Seattle they might save some time and money.