Bertha’s Bearing Likely Damaged, but Contractor Still Hopeful of Sept. 1 Restart to Tunneling

Don’t get too cozy with the announcement of a possible Sept. 1 restart to tunneling for Bertha, the tunnel-boring machine now idle underground in Seattle. That date remains a slightly optimistic goal, according to Chris Dixon, project director for Seattle Tunnel Partners.

While Dixon on Friday announced during a news conference the hopes for the Sept. 1 restart, which, if it comes to pass, would amount to approximately nine months of no digging for Bertha’s 1.7-mile-long tunnel for a new State Route 99 under downtown Seattle to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, he also said for the first time that it isn’t only the rubberized bearing seals that likely need replacing. The main bearing may be damaged after all.