Sound Transit completes first light rail tunnel from Northgate to Roosevelt

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Tunnel boring machine for Northgate Link extension reaches site of future Roosevelt station

Sound Transit tunneling contractors reached the wall of the future Roosevelt light rail station today, exposing a small section of the boring machine cutterhead and completing the first 1.5-mile segment of a 4.3-mile tunnel that will serve light rail trains from Northgate Mall to the University of Washington starting in 2021.

"This machine churned through hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of earth to reach Roosevelt Station," said Sound Transit Board Chair and King County Executive Dow Constantine. "Now on to the U-District Station, and then to Husky Stadium."

The tunnel work completed today by the boring machine nicknamed "Brenda" is the first of six tunnels being mined as part of the Northgate Link light rail expansion. The machine launched last July from the Maple Leaf Portal at NE 92nd Street just east of Interstate 5 and south of Northgate Mall. Once it finishes boring through the station wall at Roosevelt, it will undergo maintenance at the site before continuing south and connecting later with the completed University of Washington Station, which opens with University Link early next year.

A second machine nicknamed "Pamela" launched from the Maple Leaf Portal last November. It is expected to arrive at the Roosevelt site this summer. Both tunnels are expected to be complete by mid-2016. Cross-passages and tunnel finishes are scheduled for completion in early 2018. When service starts in 2021, light rail trains will enter and exit the tunnels at the Maple Leaf Portal.

http://www.soundtransit.org/About-Sound-Transit/News-and-events/News-releases/TBM-Brenda-reaches-Roosevelt-31715

[cilla4progress]

1. What about Bertha?

Is she still down?

I think this is a different project, because Bertha is a tunnel for cars to replace the Viaduct, yes? And these are for light rail.

[jmowreader]

2. They finally got Bertha to the repair shaft, so they can start fixing her

What they are not telling you: with all the disasters that have happened on this job, they probably would have had their tunnel quicker and cheaper if they'd have hired all the hard-rock miners in the Silver Valley of Idaho to dig the thing.

[cilla4progress]

3. Yeah.

Isn't it all fill where they are building? With that and the geophysical volatility here, just doesn't seem like a great idea to me (and many others). Although it will be a happy day when the Viaduct is gone!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. Yes the article I posted is about the Link light rail

Some updated info on Bertha

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2015/03/17/bertha-disassembly-set-to-begin-this-week-as-stp.html