Lynnwood man tours tunnel site, really digs ‘Bertha’

Mark Mahnkey of Lynnwood was so curious about the tunnel being dug under the downtown Seattle waterfront, he finagled himself a tour.

He was especially interested in the giant drilling machine nicknamed “Bertha.”

“It is a boy thing, I think,” Mahnkey said. “Construction, big machines, doing stuff most folks haven’t.”

On a recent Saturday, state Department of Transportation personnel and work crews showed Mahnkey around the pit that will become the south end of the tunnel — “the belly of the beast,” as he put it.

The actual drilling hasn’t yet begun — it’s scheduled to start sometime this summer. But Bertha is in place and ready to rumble, he said.

“This is truly a big machine, way over 100 yards long, including all the trailing stuff,” Mahnkey said. “I thought I was in the shaft gallery on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.”

The drilling device is the largest in the world, according to the transportation department. It’s more than 57 feet in diameter — roughly as tall as a five-story building.

Bertha was shipped to Seattle in parts following its construction in Osaka, Japan. The machine arrived in Elliott Bay in April and was reassembled in an 80-foot-deep pit to the west of Safeco and CenturyLink fields.

Crews spent about an hour showing Mahnkey around, he said. He was told four people will be working 10-hour shifts on the project five days a week.

As the dirt is dug out, another machine will divert it to a conveyor belt which will take it back out of the tunnel to the south, he said.

The tunneling is expected to take 14 months and the four-lane toll tunnel is scheduled to open to traffic in early 2016. The project cost is $3.1 billion.

Junelle Erickson of Everett writes: Regarding the repaving of southbound Highway 99 in Lynnwood after the recent water and electric systems upgrades, I’m wondering if there is a possibility that the repaving could be extended south to 148th Street SW.

As you drive under the Highway 525 overpass and proceed south, the highway has been patched so often that it is hard to see the lane dividers. These patches and the faded lane markers make it extremely difficult, especially in the rain or at night, to discern the lane parameters.

Travis Phelps, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, responds: The state can’t require utilities to pave beyond the area they’re affecting during construction. The transportation department assesses the pavement along each highway every two years. This section of Highway 99 will be inspected sometime this summer. If this section of the highway must be repaved, it will occur sometime between 2015 and 2017.

If the inspection finds sections of highway that must be repaved immediately, the transportation department will rely on its maintenance crews to conduct interim spot repairs until funding can be secured for a permanent fix.

E-mail us at stsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your city of residence.

Look for updates on our Street Smarts blog at www.heraldnet.com/streetsmarts.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.