These are some really fantastic photos of the Devil’s Slide tunnel construction. For those who aren’t familiar, the tunnels will be bypassing a particularly landslide and rockslide-prone portion of the California Coast that is currently traversed by Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH. [Source: . Image: kxyoung on Flickr]
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Feb. 7 Bertha update: Two factors contributed to tunnel stoppage
WSDOT released an update on February 7 with some conclusions regarding the blockage that has stopped the Alaska Way Viaduct Tunnel Boring Machine, Bertha’s progress since December 6. Now they don’t think it was necessarily the well casing after all.
They cite two factors that contributed to the blockage. First, the cutterhead was clogged with material. You can see an cool short video of a worker unclogging the cutterhead. Not terribly dramatic, but still cool. The second factor was increased temperatures inside the equipment. STP discovered damage to a seal that protects the machine’s main bearing. They are still determining how the repairs will be done.
If you want to follow the chronology of this issue, read below for summaries and links to previous updates from WSDOT. And Check out the videos too! [Source: WSDOT]
Landslide Occurs in Residential La Jolla California
A landslide occured about 9am PT yesterday in a residential neighborhood of La Jolla, just north of San Diego. No injuries have been reported, but estimates are that 2,500 people are without either power or gas because of toppled power lines and ruptured gas lines. The Soledad Mountain Road is currently impassable. I’ll update this post as more information becomes available. In the mean time, check out some video and a location map after the break.