Big Bertha Is Digging Seattle’s Massive Underground Freeway

Big Bertha Is Digging Seattle's Massive Underground Freeway

The 2001 earthquake that brought down a length of State Route 99 running through downtown Seattle was a measly 6.8 on the Richter scale. But rather than rebuild the Alaska Viaduct, as the double-decker section was known, city officials instead decided to take the freeway underground in their very own Big Dig. To do so, Seattle’s using "Big Bertha:" the biggest Tunnel Boring Machine on Earth.

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