The Barnhart Crew lowered the 838-ton cutterhead into the SR 99 tunneling machine’s launch pit on May 31, 2013. With Bertha’s biggest pieces now in position, crews will focus on welding pieces together, connecting wires and hoses, and testing the machine prior to its launch in summer 2013. The cutterhead will do the hard work of digging through rock and soil beneath Seattle to emerge in the north end near the Battery Street Tunnel.
Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
staged the cutterhead on its back, they ultimately upended it for optimal lowering into the launch pit. To get the job done, Barnhart relied on countless rigging suppliers—too many to name, Teague explained. “All major components were set by June 8th, according to schedule and without any industrial or safety incidents for the duration of the entire project,” Teague notes. Across its 20 nationwide branches, Barnhart’s emphasis
and excellence in the areas of safety and performance have been well recognized. Among its various honors, the company has received Te Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association’s (SC&RA) Job of the Year Award for multiple projects over the years. “Crews preparing for this machine’s arrival accomplished an unbelievable amount of work over 18 months,” remarked State Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson. “Tanks to their hard work, tunneling [began] on schedule.” “With a job this big, safety is always a challenge,”
observed Barnhart Project Manager Phillip Powell. “Tere is zero margin for error. Tis job was absolutely perfect.” Te dig is expected to be completed according to a 14-month timeframe, with the new SR 99 tunnel scheduled to open to traffic in 2016. But this may not be Barnhart’s last brush with
Bertha: the company plans to bid on the dismantling and removal of the TBM, in 2015, once the tunneling portion is completed. y
> BERTHA TWEETS!
Because Bertha the TBM commanded such a mammoth presence in Seattle throughout the project, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) actually set up a fictitious Twitter account, @BerthaDigsSR99, on behalf of its “biggest” star. Bertha’s followers were treated to periodic tongue-in-cheek tweets on her progress, including:
“I’ve posed for more photos today than I can count. I love to smile, but seeing pictures of myself just reminds me that I’m all teeth.”
The WSDOT also established an information center, called Milepost 31, in Pioneer Square, dedicated to all things Bertha, featuring a 10-foot-long interactive model of the TBM on display. -JHM
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE JULY-AUGUST 2013 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84