Every tunneling machine needs its cutting tools replaced every now and then. But the challenge is keeping a giant machine sharp while a wall of waterlogged earth looms in front. Welcome to the world of hyperbaric interventions, where crews used compressed air to stabilize the ground and safely complete this high pressure work. This video takes you 200 feet underground for a rare look at hyperbaric work inside Seattle’s SR 99 tunneling machine, Bertha. [Source: WSDOT YouTube Channel. Image: YouTube]
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In Washington D.C., the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (D.C. WASA) finalized a lont-term plan in 2002 aimed at reducing combined sewer outfalls into the Potomac River and its tributary, the Anacostia River. A major portion of this plan is a $2.2 Billion (US) deep tunnel program to handle excess stormwater flows and prevent the combined sewage from being discharged into the environment. Read on for a map and more info. (Photo of Anacostia River, by D.C. WASA)
Breakthrough! Bertha TBM Completes Alaskan Way Viaduct Tunnel in Seattle
April 5, 2017
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After tunneling 9,270 feet under downtown Seattle, the Bertha tunnel boring machine finally broke through at the north portal yesterday. The breakthrough marks a major milestone in the project to replace the seismically deficient SR-99 […]
Video: Monitoring the ground and buildings during SR 99 tunnel construction
April 29, 2016
rockman
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