8 Massive Tunnels Being Built Right Now Under A City Near You
Alissa Walker, Gawker Media
ht-inch steel pipe that brought the world's largest-diameter tunneling machine to a halt up in Seattle, we can no longer fantasize about Bertha unearthing a five-story-tall buried locomotive. But we can look at something almost as fascinating: The other giant holes that are currently being churned through the bedrock below our cities.
With major infrastructure projects underway across the country, chances are very good that something is being hollowed out below your feet at this very moment. Here are some of the largest tunnels currently under construction in the U.S.
Seattle
Until being halted by a steel wellwater casing, the tunnel boring machine (TBM) named Bertha was digging a two-mile tunnel for the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Program, repairing a double-decker highway along the Seattle waterfront that was damaged in the 2001 earthquake. In late December, contractors began drilling wells around Bertha, removing more than 300,000 gallons of water to lower the pressure around the machine so crews could get a closer look at what we'll now call "The Pipe." The project is still scheduled to open in late 2015.
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