Bertha, the tunnel boring machine that spent nearly four years digging under Seattle, is no more.
WSDOT announced that disassembly of the world’s largest tunneling machine was completed Wednesday morning. The final pieces were lifted out of the north end of the SR 99 tunnel disassembly pit.
WSDOT released a time-lapse of the disassembly.
Bertha began tunneling in July 2013 next to the sports stadiums in SoDo, but it soon after went on a two-year hiatus for repairs. Drilling resumed in December 2015, and it finally busted through in South Lake Union in April.
The tunnel, which replaces the Alaskan Way Viaduct, is expected to open to traffic in 2019.
