"Big Dig," West Coast version: Giant tunneling machine stuck under downtown Seattle

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Fox News: Massive tunneling machine stuck under downtown Seattle, fix could cost taxpayers millionshttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...er-downtown-seattle-fix-could-cost-taxpayers/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...er-downtown-seattle-fix-could-cost-taxpayers/

At 57 feet in diameter, it's touted as the world's biggest tunneling machine. It was even given a name, Bertha.

But now, after digging just over 1,000 feet, Bertha is broken down and stuck underneath Seattle's downtown waterfront.

And fixing the massive mess could cost taxpayers millions.

The tunneling machine is the key workhorse in a $3.1 billion tunnel project aimed at replacing the Alaska Way Viaduct, a double-decker elevated highway that was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. Bertha's meltdown, though, has put the project in jeopardy of being the West Coast version of the biggest public works boondoggle in U.S. history, Boston's "big dig" -- which cost taxpayers $14.6 billion, nearly four times the original price tag.

"People should be very worried about what's going on right now," said Dori Monson, a radio host on KIRO in Seattle. "To have the state saying, 'we're not paying for the overruns.' You have the contractor saying, 'we're not paying.' The contractor has a provable history of making other people pay. So that means it's going to be the taxpayers."

The contractor wants an additional $190 million, on top of the $3.1 billion dollar project, to pay for "unforeseen problems."

Got news for the contractor, from a fellow "contractor" (OK, so I build a half dozen homes a year -- I'm still a contractor! How else am I gonna pay for that doctorate? :laugh: )

When I have a cost overrun because of breakdowns, stupidity, "unforeseen circumstances," that's on me. And I don't leave bulldozers under houses if they break down in the hole. Great googly-moogly!

 

[Aaron]

Because you can go to Lowe's and Home Depot and find any thing you need to build a home mass produced for pennies.

Jobs like this tunneling project could bankrupt small nations. You don't go to NAPA auto parts for find a part for Big Bertha. And, if can't be repaired insitu, It's got to be dismantled and removed. That's a multi-million dollar project right there.

If I were the contractor, I'd want double what he wants for cost overruns, and the first born of every citizen.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Because you can go to Lowe's and Home Depot and find any thing you need to build a home mass produced for pennies.

Haven't built a house lately, I see.

 

[Aaron]

Please........

 

[exscentric]

It was stopped a couple months ago due to a huge rock it couldn't chew through - didn't hear what it was or if they blasted it.