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July 12, 2016

Watch crews fix Bertha's teeth

By JOURNAL STAFF

SEATTLE — Working in hyperbaric conditions on Bertha, the machine digging the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, is tough.

How tough? WSDOT has released a video (below) that shows workers toiling in the confines of Bertha's cutterhead under high air pressure, changing the steel teeth that weigh 75 pounds apiece.

Seattle Tunnel Partners crews have replaced 25 of the more than 400 tools they've inspected during this maintenance stop. The machine has more than 700 teeth.

Crews are only able to spend about an hour working in the increased air pressure. Five crews of seven people are taking turns.

A WSDOT news release says STP is on schedule to resume mining by the end of the month. Bertha is about 120 feet below Spring Street, just west of First Avenue.




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