Enormous Tunneling Machine 'Bertha' Blocked By 'The Object'

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Enormous Tunneling Machine 'Bertha' Blocked By 'The Object'

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 20, 2013 @05:32AM from the new-television-series-already-under-development dept.

An anonymous reader sends word that 'Bertha,' the world's largest tunneling machine, which is currently boring a passage beneath Seattle's waterfront, has been forced stop. The 57.5ft diameter machine has encountered an unknown obstruction known as "the object." "The object’s composition and provenance remain unknown almost two weeks after first contact because in a state-of-the-art tunneling machine, as it turns out, you can’t exactly poke your head out the window and look. 'What we’re focusing on now is creating conditions that will allow us to enter the chamber behind the cutter head and see what the situation is,' [said project manager Chris Dixon]. Mr. Dixon said he felt pretty confident that the blockage will turn out to be nothing more or less romantic than a giant boulder, perhaps left over from the Ice Age glaciers that scoured and crushed this corner of the continent 17,000 years ago. But the unknown is a tantalizing subject. Some residents said they believe, or want to believe, that a piece of old Seattle, buried in the pell-mell rush of city-building in the 1800s, when a mucky waterfront wetland was filled in to make room for commerce, could be Bertha’s big trouble. That theory is bolstered by the fact that the blocked tunnel section is also in the shallowest portion of the route, with the top of the machine only around 45 feet below street grade."

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Time to call in... by GameboyRMH · 2013-12-20 05:34 · Score: 5, Funny

...The SCP Foundation.

--
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
1. Re:Time to call in... by Dachannien · 2013-12-20 06:05 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  How do we know that the SCP Foundation wasn't already aware of this object, and the whole tunneling project wasn't actually a cover for securing it? Rest assured that whatever "it" is, "they" have a suitably mundane explanation already prepared.
2. Re:Time to call in... by LordLimecat · 2013-12-20 09:35 · Score: 2
  
  Just make sure that at least 3 people have eyes on it at all times, and announce before blinking.
3. Re:Time to call in... by the_other_chewey · 2013-12-20 11:41 · Score: 1
  
  ...The SCP Foundation.
  First reaction: "OK, what am I not getting here?
  What does this have to do with a command line tool?
  Why is this modded funny?"
  
  And then google found me the foundation's website.
  That stuff is all kinds of awesome, and I had no idea it existed. Thank you!
4. Re:Time to call in... by Dachannien · 2013-12-21 04:53 · Score: 1
  
  Want to not sleep tonight? Read SCP-1981.
5. Re: Time to call in... by Mabhatter · 2013-12-21 14:11 · Score: 1
  
  But don't stare too long or you become one....
  How long til Torchwood is on the case?
Near the waterfront? by Peter+Simpson · 2013-12-20 05:35 · Score: 2

I'm betting on a lost anchor or random pieces of cast iron from an old ship.
1. Re:Near the waterfront? by Stargoat · 2013-12-20 05:49 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Yeah, pretty much. But in this case, I will put my money on the hull of a schooner. Old piece of garbage got dumped there wholesale I'll wage.
  150 years ago:
  Person A: "Hey, we need landfill. Do you want this leaky decrepit hulk any more?"
  Person B "Give me 20 bucks and it's yours."
  Person A: "Here you go, thanks! That'll make great landfill and as long as anyone doesn't try to dig a giant tunnel through here, we're set!
  
  --
  Hoist Number One and Number Six.
2. Re:Near the waterfront? by ackthpt · 2013-12-20 05:50 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I'm betting on a lost anchor or random pieces of cast iron from an old ship.
  I'm betting it's a fragment of the House. As we have seen, it can obstruct almost anything it puts its mind to.
  
  --
  
  A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
3. Re:Near the waterfront? by wooferhound · 2013-12-20 05:58 · Score: 2
  
  They couldn't build an Earth tunneling machine that cant deal with a giant boulder ?
  
  --
  We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky
4. Re:Near the waterfront? by Ukab+the+Great · 2013-12-20 05:59 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Not plausible. More likely a large nugget of Adamantium.
5. Re:Near the waterfront? by gman003 · 2013-12-20 05:59 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  An anchor that can block a five-story-high tunneling machine? I've seen some massive anchors from old battleships, but to block this it would have to be an order of magnitude larger.
  Best bet is either on a giant boulder of some hard rock, or maybe a buried building of some sort. It's not ship debris - this thing is the *size* of some large ships.
6. Re:Near the waterfront? by Frosty+Piss · 2013-12-20 06:10 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  They couldn't build an Earth tunneling machine that cant deal with a giant boulder ?
  The cutter heads break apart stationary rock and other objects. The theory in the local press here in Seattle is that the bolder is being spun with the cutter head, thus the cutter teeth canâ(TM)t grip it, and itâ(TM)s too big to fall through the openings in the cutter head that channel debris to the exit conveyor.
  
  --
  If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
7. Re:Near the waterfront? by MachineShedFred · 2013-12-20 06:12 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  So we really have moved past "Too big to fail" then. Good to know.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
8. Re:Near the waterfront? by Hognoxious · 2013-12-20 06:29 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  The theory in the local press here in Seattle is that the bolder is being spun with the cutter head
  ... while the timid one is standing off to one side looking at its shoes.
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
9. Re:Near the waterfront? by Lumpy · 2013-12-20 06:29 · Score: 2
  
  So they ran into the location where they buried all the bowling balls from the great bowling blight of the 1700's.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
10. Re:Near the waterfront? by Black+LED · 2013-12-20 06:33 · Score: 1
  
  the bolder is being spun with the cutter head
  I'm not sure why I find the mental image of that so funny.
11. Re:Near the waterfront? by EdIII · 2013-12-20 06:38 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Doesn't sound like anything a bit of dynamite couldn't handle.
  How's that paradigm working out for you Mr. Coyote?
12. Re:Near the waterfront? by Anonymous+Psychopath · 2013-12-20 06:41 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  They got a photo of it already.
  
  --
  Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
13. Re:Near the waterfront? by VortexCortex · 2013-12-20 07:08 · Score: 1
  
  Careful now, could be Elerium-115. Just in case, let's call in XCOM.
  Does anyone know Mulder or Skully's email?
14. Re:Near the waterfront? by sconeu · 2013-12-20 07:12 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe it's made up of Illudium Phosdex, the shaving cream atom!
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
15. Re:Near the waterfront? by TWiTfan · 2013-12-20 07:19 · Score: 2
  
  My money is on the compacted bones of several generations dead Indians, dead Chinese, assorted dead hookers, and several former mayors who wouldn't play ball.
  
  --
  The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
16. Re:Near the waterfront? by TWiTfan · 2013-12-20 07:20 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  hull of a schooner
  IT'S A SAILBOAT!
  
  --
  The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
17. Re:Near the waterfront? by Guy+Harris · 2013-12-20 08:08 · Score: 1
  
  I'm betting on a lost anchor or random pieces of cast iron from an old ship.
  Or maybe an intact old ship.
18. Re:Near the waterfront? by DerekLyons · 2013-12-20 09:34 · Score: 2
  
  I'm betting on a lost anchor or random pieces of cast iron from an old ship.
  The problem is that while current grade level is forty five feet above the machine, historical grade is twenty feet above the machine... Who'd dig a thirty or forty foot deep hole in a swamp to discard an anchor or piece of cast iron? While this is the lowest point of the tunnel, this isn't the lowest point of the historical grade (relative to the tunnel bore), that's a block or two ahead of where the machine is currently stopped.
  And before anyone brings up a surveying or mapping error 'back in the day', remember Seattle wasn't settled until the 1850's, and the maps they're working from date from the 1870's to 1890's. On the scale of a city, surveying and mapping technology was pretty good by then and thus the odds of a couple of hundred foot error in the location of grade or a twenty plus foot error in the height of grade are extraordinarily slim indeed. You'd almost be better off investing in a Lotto ticket than in betting on the existence of such an error.
19. Re:Near the waterfront? by Zynder · 2013-12-20 09:46 · Score: 1
  
  Well if it is, keep it away from Q-36 Explosive Space Modulators! Unless, of course, you want an Earth shattering kaboom!
20. Re:Near the waterfront? by DarwinSurvivor · 2013-12-20 11:46 · Score: 1
  
  These tunneling machines are not meant to be stopped, and consequently do not have a "reverse".
21. Re:Near the waterfront? by xaxa · 2013-12-20 12:23 · Score: 1
  
  They couldn't build an Earth tunneling machine that cant deal with a giant boulder ?
  They could, but tunnelling machines are designed to cope with the expected geology.
  Crossrail (near me) requires boring 43km of new tunnels, and there are two different types of TBM required: one type for chalk, the other for clay/sand/gravel. Presumably that means they couldn't cope with hard rock. Seattle is also built on gravelly clay/sand.
22. Re:Near the waterfront? by mcgrew · 2013-12-20 13:37 · Score: 1
  
  I actually RTFA, one fellow said he wished that was what they would find but it's incredibly unlikely because "bertha would cut through it like it was made out of paper." The most likely theory is that it's a big rock the glaciers brought down that spins with the blade.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
23. Re:Near the waterfront? by zippthorne · 2013-12-20 14:40 · Score: 1
  
  Joke's on you. Pause the film and find out.
  
  --
  Can you be Even More Awesome?!
24. Re:Near the waterfront? by steelfood · 2013-12-20 16:03 · Score: 1
  
  The only thing such a big Bertha can't plow through would be the leftover remains of a long-buried Krogoth.
  
  --
  "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
25. Re:Near the waterfront? by cusco · 2013-12-20 16:23 · Score: 1
  
  The ship that was buried out there (forget the name) was wooden, which Bertha wouldn't even notice as it chewed through. There's actually speculation that it might be a locomotive with a burst boiler, although that was supposed to have been dumped quite a way further north.
  
  --
  "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
26. Re:Near the waterfront? by cusco · 2013-12-20 16:29 · Score: 1
  
  If it were something heavy (like the locomotive some are speculating about) it wouldn't be necessary to dig a hole. That's old mud flats, the water table is very high, and there is a LOT of underground water movement. Something heavy enough would gradually sink through the muck until it hit a denser strata.
  
  --
  "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
27. Re:Near the waterfront? by DerekLyons · 2013-12-21 06:59 · Score: 1
  
  If it were something heavy (like the locomotive some are speculating about) it wouldn't be necessary to dig a hole. That's old mud flats, the water table is very high, and there is a LOT of underground water movement. Something heavy enough would gradually sink through the muck until it hit a denser strata.
  It's not weight that makes something float or sink, it's the displacement and weight and how they compare to the density of the media the object is in. For instance, a ship floats deeper in fresh water than salt, because fresh water is less dense. And that kinda counts against your theory because mud is very dense and heavy indeed.
  Which still leaves unanswered the question - how did that heavy thing get there in the first place? There were railroad tracks and piers running out across those flats, if one collapsed and dropped a locomotive into the mud you'd think it would make the papers and/or be known to local rail fans. (Railfans excel at trivia like that.)
28. Re: Near the waterfront? by budgenator · 2013-12-21 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  This thing is like a pavement grinder 57 feet in diameter, it would go through a waterlogged wood hull like it was wet tissue paper; even a steel hull would only slow it down a bit. Bertha just had the bad luck of hitting a large boulders that was too round and too close to the center of rotation for the cutters to bite without the whole thing spinning in the mud.
  
  --
  Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
29. Re:Near the waterfront? by RockDoctor · 2013-12-21 12:03 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't even bother to RTFA, because I see this every year or two when we're drilling big holes in glacial debris. It's about 50/50 between it being an artefact (anchor / piece of un-recorded piling / CIA Black Ops base) and a big boulder, because there are more artefacts in cities. but boulders are common enough.
  Most of the time we drill through or round them, then cement the things in places ASAP. But sometimes they're more problematic because they tend to creep/ fall out of the walls and crush or trap later equipment at the most inconvenient possible time. Our normal response then, as a minimal cost / minimal risk strategy is to move location by 50 m and start again. On a tunnel-boring project, that could be much more of an issue.
  But it's hardly unprecedented.
  Ultimate solution : pull the TBM OOH (see, we have TLAs for this!), pump the cavity full of cement and let it set. Then drill ahead with a smaller probe drill (or several) to determine the extent of the problem. Apply sufficient quantity and placement of explosives to turn the big problem into lots of smaller problems. Tackle the small problems in sequence.
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
30. Re:Near the waterfront? by RockDoctor · 2013-12-21 12:12 · Score: 1
  
  Doesn't sound like anything a bit of dynamite couldn't handle.
  You need to have something on top of the dynamite to direct the explosive forces into the boulder (presumed) [on this side of the Pond we call it "tamping the charge" ; probably the same word root as "tampon"]. Which you could achieve in various ways, but you need to get your big expensive machinery out of harms way first. By that point, you can probably do the job with a large construction drill, a 30mm drill bit, and a half-stick of "bang". If the first half-stick doesn't work, use your drill in the remainder of the drilled hole as a starter and repeat the performance.
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
31. Re:Near the waterfront? by niftymitch · 2013-12-21 18:19 · Score: 1
  
  This is the most sensible post on this.
  Underground mining often does something like this. I recall working
  in a zinc mine in PA where the ground water problem was so bad that they
  never advanced the face without drilling ahead through a valve cemented
  in place. On once occasion the lore in the mine was that the water flow
  when the exploration hole punched into a water filled void was so large
  that the workers were up to their waist+ while the drilling string was pulled
  out and then the valve closed.
  I never worked on such a large monster rig but on a much smaller scale I have
  seen a cobble line up and act like a spinning bearing for a longish time.
  Eventually it would wear out and normal drilling would continue in my
  case through unconsolidated desert fan gravels over copper ore.
  These BIG rigs are not designed to go in reverse. This is a big deal for
  the site engineers because there is no support or access to the critical
  front area.
  If I recall there was another monster boring machine that encountered a
  cutting head problem. It took a lot of clever work to sort it out. In the
  process there was a lot written and a lot of information on how these
  monsters work and some of the troubles repairing them.
  I hope that they can quickly install a cement plug (if needed) and ensure a solid repair
  
  --
  Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
32. Re:Near the waterfront? by niftymitch · 2013-12-21 18:58 · Score: 1
  
  Doesn't sound like anything a bit of dynamite couldn't handle.
  You need to have something on top of the dynamite to direct the explosive forces into the boulder (presumed) [on this side of the Pond we call it "tamping the charge" ; probably the same word root as "tampon"]. Which you could achieve in various ways, but you need to get your big expensive machinery out of harms way first. By that point, you can probably do the job with a large construction drill, a 30mm drill bit, and a half-stick of "bang". If the first half-stick doesn't work, use your drill in the remainder of the drilled hole as a starter and repeat the performance.
  Almost... What ever this is is BIG.
  It would take a lot of holes. If you drive along a lot of road cuts you
  might notice nice linear drill holes 18"-24" apart nicely split into half.
  In this case with no face to break to a three by three starter might be needed
  with each hole 3" to 5" inches apart. Then opposite sides shot to break toward the middle
  and clean out an opening (face) that additional shots can break into. If it is a boulder
  then knowing where the outer ring is to break is a challenge. If you could turn it to
  gravel in an instant there would be nothing holding the hole open and you might have
  another type of failure.
  Another possible solution might present itself if this is a big spinning boulder. By drilling some
  holes through the block grout could be pumped to the far side and cement the block in place
  for the big machine to polish off. Cement does not help in mud but in mud it could be replaced
  with super chilled coolant to freeze solid a largish surrounding area and supporting collar to work
  on the block.
  I doubt there is enough ventilation in place to permit a cutting lance but heat and cold could
  improve the result from smaller explosives. Because of the expensive equipment I expect
  high brisance (expensive perhaps dangerous) compounds and lots of small holes and timed detonations
  to limit then allow the gasses to vent enough to not damage the big drill.
  For comparison the delay of a like tunneling project took seven months to resolve and the entire
  project was stalled, very large support crew laid off, new city managers.
  This is a problem... news at 11 perhaps May 30, 2014.
  
  --
  Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
33. Re: Near the waterfront? by RockDoctor · 2013-12-25 11:44 · Score: 1
  
  Our main (UK, north) cave rescue team routinely practice cutting boulders in the 1-2m size range apart in order to retrieve a casualty (sometimes human, mostly mannequin), from where they're "trapped". It's not difficult. You use an 8mm diameter, long masonry drill, and 6mm (1/4 in) "Primacord", also known as "det cord", "shock cord", or "washing line", with random clay to hold the cord in place. Lots of little holes, lots of little lengths of high brisance "bang", a main line to transmit the det to each length of "working charge" (which is what det cord is designed for anyway), and tough fabric (i.e. conveyor belt material) to protect the casualty from flying debris.
  It is as impressive as fuck. It still takes some balls to volunteer as the casualty though. Just because Hollywood celebrates people whose only answer is "you're going to need a bigger bang", doesn't mean that there aren't some real artistes with explosives out there.
  Have you ever heard of using explosives in manufacturing precision components?
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
34. Re: Near the waterfront? by niftymitch · 2013-12-26 10:37 · Score: 1
  
  Our main (UK, north) cave rescue team routinely practice cutting boulders in the 1-2m size range apart in order to retrieve a casualty (sometimes human, mostly mannequin), from where they're "trapped". It's not difficult. You use an 8mm diameter, long masonry drill, and 6mm (1/4 in) "Primacord", also known as "det cord", "shock cord", or "washing line", with random clay to hold the cord in place. Lots of little holes, lots of little lengths of high brisance "bang", a main line to transmit the det to each length of "working charge" (which is what det cord is designed for anyway), and tough fabric (i.e. conveyor belt material) to protect the casualty from flying debris.
  It is as impressive as fuck. It still takes some balls to volunteer as the casualty though. Just because Hollywood celebrates people whose only answer is "you're going to need a bigger bang", doesn't mean that there aren't some real artistes with explosives out there.
  Have you ever heard of using explosives in manufacturing precision components?
  Yes, I have heard of this...and what you outlined is darn close to what I have seen or done myself.
  Yes, a practiced and well schooled blaster can do astounding work.
  Using a living volunteer to practice this stuff on or around is fracking foolish.
  Better drag down a side of pig, lamb or beef that still has the hide
  attached.... Have a pit roast BBQ the next day.
  As for precision components I am sure none in Switzerland use explosives in
  the making of time pieces. Tell me more....
  
  --
  Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
35. Re: Near the waterfront? by RockDoctor · 2013-12-29 09:28 · Score: 1
  
  Using a living volunteer is a way of being confident that the person who set the explosives, and who is initially also the volunteer, is confident that they've done it right, and that it is going to work. If the person who is asking you to risk your balls trying this sort of thing in a rescue situation doesn't have the confidence in the technique to volunteer themselves, then it isn't likely to be a good technique.
  Of course you use props to start with - it's experimentation. But at some point you're going to try it on a live person - that's the only point of the technique. So, the person who is developing the technique volunteers. It's the only way to get something to a state where it's reliable enough for use in the field and the cold and the dark and the stress of a real emergency, and which real victims are likely to have any confidence in submitting to.
  You also missed the important point of "volunteer". Payment is zero, and funding doesn't extend to buying sides of meat for a trial. It's spent on important things like equipment, fuel, and ... well, that's about it.
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
36. Re: Near the waterfront? by niftymitch · 2013-12-29 12:00 · Score: 1
  
  Volunteer, payment of zero....
  OK the only way this makes sense is to drill small holes
  and drive wedges. And also use air powered tools.....
  It does not make sense to use explosives short of a large rock fall,
  cave in situation where the break is not toward a living person.
  Storage of any type of explosive today is expensive.
  When you have no funding then BBQ for the group funded by the
  group seems to be the only bit that works in my mind.
  Explosives are not gentle or safe in the proximity of living people.
  It is true that rock and tunnels let you get close but close
  behind a conveyor belt mat is too darn close by my standards.
  I could perhaps have my mind changed... but....
  
  --
  Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.
It is... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 05:36 · Score: 1, Funny

Dr. Who's phone booth.
1. Re:It is... by damn_registrars · 2013-12-20 06:24 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Dr. Who's phone booth.
  Dr. Who has no phone booth. Everyone knows the TARDIS is a police box.
  
  --
  Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
2. Re:It is... by jeffmflanagan · 2013-12-20 06:33 · Score: 1
  
  You're thinking of Bill & Ted. The Doctor does not have a phone booth.
3. Re:It is... by web.mayfield · 2013-12-20 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe Bill (or Ted) (or both) is a future regeneration of the Doctor.
4. Re:It is... by TheCarp · 2013-12-20 07:08 · Score: 1
  
  Please, I think you mean Rufus.
  
  --
  "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
5. Re:It is... by murdocj · 2013-12-20 07:51 · Score: 2
  
  If this was a Dr. Who episode, it would be a crashed spaceship from millions of years ago and everybody who went into the tunnel would come out covered in green slime and turning into a cave man.
6. Re:It is... by doctorfaustus · 2013-12-20 08:44 · Score: 1
  
  More like a Quartermass movie. Strange alien object found in pit eventually releases all the demons of hell into London:
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051305/
  
  --
  
  DAILY ROTATION
7. Re:It is... by MyNameIsEarl · 2013-12-20 09:01 · Score: 1
  
  And "Dr. Who's" name is The Doctor.
8. Re:It is... by Hub_City · 2013-12-20 09:16 · Score: 1
  
  I'm *very* surprised it took that long for this reference to pop up. I shall now leave satisfied.
9. Re:It is... by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-20 10:27 · Score: 1
  
  Because God knows that London is the only city alien disturbances happen in. Also, it's apparently literally the only city in the U.K.
  Thanks DW! :)
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
10. Re:It is... by painandgreed · 2013-12-20 10:28 · Score: 1
  
  If this was a Dr. Who episode, it would be a crashed spaceship from millions of years ago and everybody who went into the tunnel would come out covered in green slime and turning into a cave man.
  Yes, but this is Seattle, so it's going to be a steampunk drilling machine that unleashes toxic zombie causing gas.
11. Re:It is... by doctorfaustus · 2013-12-20 10:38 · Score: 1
  
  "Because God knows that London is the only city alien disturbances happen in. Also, it's apparently literally the only city in the U.K."
  Sounds like some kind of objection? Meaning what?
  Anyway, blame Quartermass. The object was found during building works at Knightsbridge, London
  
  --
  
  DAILY ROTATION
12. Re:It is... by symbolset · 2013-12-20 13:19 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure that my tax money is in there somewhere. Maybe that's what they found. If so, I would like for them to return it.
  
  --
  Help stamp out iliturcy.
13. Re:It is... by symbolset · 2013-12-20 13:21 · Score: 1
  
  No, it isn't.
  
  --
  Help stamp out iliturcy.
14. Re:It is... by DocHoncho · 2013-12-20 14:18 · Score: 1
  
  Well, stuff happened in Wales too, a lot actually, what with Torchwood and all.
  
  --
  Celebrity worship is a poor substitute for Deity worship and costs more to boot.
15. Re:It is... by dbIII · 2013-12-20 16:25 · Score: 1
  
  This is the terror-stricken service of the BBC. Today at approximately this afternoon, a discovery was made on the site of the Notting Hill Gate site of the government’s new dig-up-the-roads-plan-for-congesting-traffic scheme. Workmen in the absence of a strike settled for work as an alternative. It was during this brief lull in high-powered inertia that Morris Onions, a scaffolder’s knee-wrencher, stumbled across something he’d found.
  Professor Ned Quatermass (O.B.E.) in the Goon show episode inspired by Quatermass looked in a different spot but still in London :)
16. Re:It is... by Nivag064 · 2013-12-20 16:47 · Score: 1
  
  No, no,...
  It's most likely to be clutch of Weeping Angels..
17. Re:It is... by murdocj · 2013-12-20 16:54 · Score: 1
  
  Whatever they are, the dig site is going to look like an abandoned rock quarry
18. Re:It is... by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-21 09:03 · Score: 1
  
  You may recall that they even had a London alien encounter in Torchwood (Children of Earth). I seem to remember the vast majority of enemies they faced in Torchwood were either solitary rogue aliens, or things that they themselves caused via the Rift. Were there any proper invasions?
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
I bet it's a rectangular solid by zoid.com · 2013-12-20 05:37 · Score: 5, Funny

I bet it's a rectangular solids whose dimensions are in the precise ratio of 1 : 4 : 9....

--
Zoid.com
1. Re:I bet it's a rectangular solid by Lord+Balto · 2013-12-20 05:39 · Score: 1
  
  "First contact" indeed.
2. Re: I bet it's a rectangular solid by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 05:43 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And that appears to be...my God...it's full of stars!
3. Re:I bet it's a rectangular solid by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 06:02 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  All in all it will be another boring story with boring results after some digging.
4. Re: I bet it's a rectangular solid by The+Other+White+Meat · 2013-12-20 09:38 · Score: 1
  
  my god... it's full of idiots. and trolls. and closet cases...
  
  --
  
  --- Generation X: The first generation to have SIG lines inferior to their parents... ---
5. Re:I bet it's a rectangular solid by RightwingNutjob · 2013-12-20 10:45 · Score: 1
  
  Problem solved: extrapolating dimension-wise, it should only exist for 16 seconds and then disappear!
Maybe the machine ran into by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 05:42 · Score: 5, Funny

... a create of unsold Windows phones?
1. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by bunratty · 2013-12-20 05:53 · Score: 2
  
  ...and Zunes.
  
  --
  What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.
2. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by MightyYar · 2013-12-20 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  Even in death, they annoy.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
3. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by Isarian · 2013-12-20 05:59 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  To block a giant tunneling engine? It'd have to be old-school Nokia.
4. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by wooferhound · 2013-12-20 05:59 · Score: 1
  
  and Surface Tablets . . .
  
  --
  We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky
5. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by Antipater · 2013-12-20 06:12 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  So that's what happened to all the unsold N-Gages.
  
  --
  Everything is better with chainsaws.
6. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by Talderas · 2013-12-20 06:25 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Subsurface tablets....
  
  --
  "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
7. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by jfdavis668 · 2013-12-20 06:33 · Score: 2
  
  Or the missing Atari ET games?
8. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by lordofthechia · 2013-12-20 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  They said the machine couldn't bore through it.
  
  Maybe they ran into a pocket of old discarded Nokia 3310s.
  
  --
  Georgia Tech, the leader in Chia(tm) technology.
9. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by antdude · 2013-12-20 13:19 · Score: 1
  
  Create? :P
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
10. Re:Maybe the machine ran into by symbolset · 2013-12-20 13:24 · Score: 1
  
  And Kins.
  
  --
  Help stamp out iliturcy.
Paging Dr Quatermass... by uncle+slacky · 2013-12-20 05:46 · Score: 4, Interesting

I'm sure I saw an old documentary about this kind of thing happening in the London Underground. Watch out for giant ants...

--
Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it.
1. Re:Paging Dr Quatermass... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 05:52 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Grasshoppers...large, telekinetic grasshoppers...
2. Re:Paging Dr Quatermass... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 06:00 · Score: 1
  
  In the movie (5 Million Years to Earth) I thought the aliens looked more like grasshoppers than ants. But you may be on to something here...
3. Re:Paging Dr Quatermass... by antdude · 2013-12-20 13:16 · Score: 1
  
  What's the name of it? I hope there are giant ants!
  
  --
  Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Alien pod by Captain_Chaos · 2013-12-20 05:48 · Score: 1

Obviously this must be an alien pod buried millions of years ago and patiently waiting for its pilot to arrive riding the lightning. We were bound to stumble across them some day!
1. Re:Alien pod by mrclisdue · 2013-12-20 06:10 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Nope. God put it there 6000 years ago to test the faithful.
Alien Origin by Jherek+Carnelian · 2013-12-20 05:51 · Score: 2, Insightful

Clearly The Object is an interstellar vehicle with a structure of super-dense composite materials built to withstand the vagaries of near-light-speed travel for thousands of years. It crashed here long before human tribes crossed the land bridge from siberia and has remained undiscovered until now. They are best off leaving it undisturbed, if they enter it, they risk releasing biomechanoid killing machines that will destroy all of humanity.
1. Re:Alien Origin by VortexCortex · 2013-12-20 07:34 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Clearly The Object is an interstellar vehicle with a structure of super-dense composite materials built to withstand the vagaries of near-light-speed travel for thousands of years. It crashed here long before human tribes crossed the land bridge from siberia and has remained undiscovered until now. They are best off leaving it undisturbed, if they enter it, they risk releasing biomechanoid killing machines that will destroy all of humanity.
  Yes, but thousands of years? Try billions. The pilot was killed on impact and eaten by their own gut microbes, which quickly escaped and went looking for more things to eat. Failing to find a single suitable eatery, the microbes went on to destroy most existing anaerobic life, become sentient, create eateries, and re-discover their long lost progenitor's ship thus activating its homing beacon through very efficient electromagnetic induction. Unfortunately, Earth's inhabitants could no longer serve the role as gut microbes due to a gross miss calculation in scale, and were instead eaten by a transdimensional dog named Jeebus after fetching them. Within said belly they reside to this day battling his mentally corrosive digestive juice which is rich in charged retardation and litigation particles known locally therein as: Religions.
  This has all happened before, and will all happen again; The process has been deemed "mostly harmless".
2. Re:Alien Origin by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-20 10:32 · Score: 1
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphere_(novel)
  
  --
  Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
3. Re:Alien Origin by dbIII · 2013-12-20 16:30 · Score: 1
  
  I thought I'd managed to forget that plot. Not the best moment from the "doctors with nuclear weapons" guy. Still, it beats highly intelligent albino gorillas with stone ping pong paddles hands down.
4. Re:Alien Origin by fyngyrz · 2013-12-20 19:05 · Score: 1
  
  they risk releasing biomechanoid killing machines that will destroy all of humanity.
  Too late, already done. They're called "televisions." They kill the mind first.
  
  --
  I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Need 150,000 pounds of Raisin Bran by Russ1642 · 2013-12-20 05:51 · Score: 4, Funny

...and eight tanker trucks of coffee. That ought to do it.
1. Re:Need 150,000 pounds of Raisin Bran by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 08:17 · Score: 1
  
  This is Seattle we're talking about. Coffee isn't sold in measly tanker trucks.. more like supertankers! (And being close to the waterfront would be a plus for that, anyways.)
Maybe... by XMark3 · 2013-12-20 05:52 · Score: 1

Maybe this is where they ACTUALLY buried all those cartridges of the Atari ET game.
STOP THE PROJECT NOW! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 05:52 · Score: 3, Funny

That is not dead which can eternal lie.
And with strange aeons even death may die.
1. Re:STOP THE PROJECT NOW! by ericloewe · 2013-12-20 06:15 · Score: 1
  
  You're right to post as AC, people you know would start suspecting you're smoking some serious stuff.
2. Re:STOP THE PROJECT NOW! by Artifakt · 2013-12-20 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  Whooshathotep!
  
  --
  Who is John Cabal?
3. Re:STOP THE PROJECT NOW! by malakai · 2013-12-20 06:38 · Score: 1
  
  Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
  
  --
  -Malakai
  A Dragon Lives in my Garage
4. Re:STOP THE PROJECT NOW! by dbIII · 2013-12-20 16:32 · Score: 1
  
  With a quote like that you should change your sig to "Dagon lives in my garage" :)
Hmmmm.... by rts008 · 2013-12-20 05:53 · Score: 1, Insightful

Jimmy Hoffa, encased in concrete? ;-)
Oh, and my car keys, hundreds of missing socks and the TV remote control. That's my theory.

--
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
1. Re:Hmmmm.... by cusco · 2013-12-20 17:43 · Score: 1
  
  Had a friend who grew up in South Chicago. He said that when Hoffa disappeared everyone in his neighborhood stopped buying sausage for a couple of weeks.
  
  --
  "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
And so it begins by swm · 2013-12-20 05:53 · Score: 4, Informative

This tunnel was locally controversial, with opponents arguing that
- it was expensive
- it wouldn't help with Seattle's traffic problems, AND
- these monster boring machines have a track record of getting stuck underground, and then what are you going to do? Call Roto-Rooter?
Sounds like it's starting to come true...
1. Re:And so it begins by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 06:05 · Score: 1
  
  Not to mention, it's a damned earthquake zone, and a rainy one at that.
2. Re:And so it begins by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2013-12-20 06:50 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  The same type of tunneling machines managed to dig Seattle's University District light rail tunnel extension without getting stuck - and even ahead of schedule.
  I don't think one incident (related to that sewer tunnel boondoggle) constitutes a "track record of getting stuck".
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
Scientific Term: BFR by some+old+guy · 2013-12-20 05:54 · Score: 5, Funny

Civil Engineers, geologists, and mining specialists encounter the BFR phenomenon on a regular basis.
It's a Big Fucking Rock.

--
Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
1. Re:Scientific Term: BFR by Em+Adespoton · 2013-12-20 06:38 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I'm no engineer but I'm guessing the machine was never meant to bore through solid rock like that. The procedure for rock is still drill-and-blast.
  Actually; it CAN break up solid rock. The current guess is that the rock isn't staying stationary, but is instead spinning, preventing the drill from gaining purchase. By the time they're done, maybe it'll be a perfect cylinder :)
2. Re:Scientific Term: BFR by pitchpipe · 2013-12-20 07:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Construction Term: Leverite
  Leverite there.
  
  --
  Look where all this talking got us, baby.
So it started... by RadekvonReach · 2013-12-20 05:55 · Score: 1

So it started. We are doomed. We will all die.
AllSpark by lengel · 2013-12-20 05:55 · Score: 1

Wait, I thought the AllSpark was buried under the Hoover Dam.
1. Re:AllSpark by Dachannien · 2013-12-20 06:00 · Score: 2
  
  Wait, I thought the AllSpark was buried under the Hoover Dam.
  Maybe they found the AllSpice.
2. Re:AllSpark by compwizrd · 2013-12-20 06:26 · Score: 1
  
  Close. It's a StarGate.
3. Re:AllSpark by suutar · 2013-12-20 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  This is the _other_ allspark, needed to kick off three or four more movies.
Probably boring (no pun intended) by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2013-12-20 05:57 · Score: 2

It's hard to imagine a "piece of old Seattle" that would interfere with a tunneling machine. I'm guessing they're right, and it's an erratic from the ice age. I'd love to get to go in the tunnel and look, though - the tunneling equipment Seattle's been using both for this one and for the light rail extension fascinates me.
I'm a bit surprised Ivar's hasn't taken advantage of this though.

--
#DeleteChrome
A sad day by jovius · 2013-12-20 05:57 · Score: 2

Tis' a great blow for object oriented programming.
1. Re:A sad day by ericloewe · 2013-12-20 06:23 · Score: 1
  
  Don't worry, this actually proves that OOP is The Right Way. They should've built a machine that could handle the abstract class Object or at least stuffTypicallyFoundUnderground.
  Of course, the object is clearly lacking a destructor, and is thus not cleaning up after itself. Shameful behavior.
2. Re:A sad day by Em+Adespoton · 2013-12-20 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  I think this has no problems with Object.underground.found.stuff.typical -- the problem is that there is no general handler for Object.underground.found.stuff.atypical -- which is what they've got here.
3. Re:A sad day by Nivag064 · 2013-12-20 16:41 · Score: 1
  
  I told you Mildred, these object oriented programmers are being objectionable, again!!!
The Hatch by dan.mccann84 · 2013-12-20 05:57 · Score: 2

Upon further investigation they've determined the object has a hatch. The plan to spend the next couple of seasons trying top open it. They're not not the only ones in the tunnel...and they all know it!
1. Re:The Hatch by Em+Adespoton · 2013-12-20 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  Upon further investigation they've determined the object has a hatch. The plan to spend the next couple of seasons trying top open it.
  They're not not the only ones in the tunnel...and they all know it!
  Is that an Orrin Hatch or a Richard Hatch? While the second keeps popping up in annoying places, the first is going to be harder to shift.
Doesn't sound very stable... by rnturn · 2013-12-20 05:59 · Score: 2, Interesting

... having a 57.5ft tunnel with only 45ft of material above it. Aren't they worried about a cave-in? Unless they're plowing through heavily clay-laden (damned near bunker-buster-proof) soil like we have around where I live, surely the vibrations will have an effect on that 45ft of soil overhead if they decide to proceed and Bertha begins grinding its way through The Object.

--
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
1. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by RichMan · 2013-12-20 06:06 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  The machine puts up tunnel walls as it goes.
  http://gizmodo.com/big-bertha-is-digging-seattles-massive-underground-fre-662469199
  Concrete panels go in right behind the bore head. Infront of the maw is ground below the water table. The bore head forms a seal and the tunnel behind the bore head is pumped dry of water that leaks through.
2. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by jonnythan · 2013-12-20 06:09 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  They should totally get you in on this project. I imagine they have no idea they're doing it all wrong.
3. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 06:14 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Holly crap, it's almost like someone THOUGHT about this. Like maybe an engineer that gets paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to think about this shit every day!
  AMAZING!
4. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by Blakey+Rat · 2013-12-20 06:26 · Score: 2
  
  Do you really think the engineers responsible for this project didn't fucking thing of that? And account for it? God, maybe you suck ass at your job, but try not to assume everybody else does.
  And for the record, Bertha's stopped because it *can't* grind through the object. If it could, this wouldn't be in the news would it?
  
  --
  Comment of the year
5. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by dcooper_db9 · 2013-12-20 06:38 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  They are concerned and not just about a cave-in. Vibration could cause lot's of damage. According to the WSDOT the machine is not actually stuck yet. They stopped it because they encountered resistance. The walls behind the machine are already built so there's not much risk of a cave-in. But there is a risk that nearby infrastructure could be damaged if they move forward. They can reinforce the infrastructure above but if they actually get stuck it could have enormous consequences. The machine would have to be dug out and replaced (at $80 million per borer). Add in the cost of reinforcements and digging a big hole, then consider that the $3.1 billion project is only bonded up to $500 million.
  http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-could-possibly-go-wrong/Content?oid=4399657
  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2013/12/10_SR99tunnelingstatement.htm
  
  --
  I do not block ads. I do block third party scripts.
6. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 07:01 · Score: 1
  
  They partially thought about this. What they didn't think about much was that this is an earthquake zone, and the tunnel passes very close to a main fault line in downtown Seattle. To top that off, it sits on the waterline, so when it does fail in the earthquake, everyone will be drowned either by leakage or by tsunami.
7. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-12-20 07:06 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Here is a nice video from a company that makes these rather impressive machines it should answer all of your question as to how they work and why they don't have cave ins behind the machine. In softer than expected soil, like hitting a deep spot of dirt in limestone, sink holes can develop in front of the cutting head as was a frequent problem on the SMART Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
  
  I am not a tunnel excavating expert but my 5 year old thinks these are among the coolest machines that have ever been constructed and likes educational shows that are about tunneling where they use a TBM.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
8. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by berashith · 2013-12-20 07:49 · Score: 1
  
  or maybe they thought about that too, and have considered those things in the materials and construction techniques that will be in use.
9. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by rnturn · 2013-12-20 09:08 · Score: 1, Interesting
  
  Sorry... I'm not a civil engineer. I just thought it curious to be digging that large of a tunnel at that shallow of a depth and wondered if it wouldn't have been easier to merely excavate a trench that you fill in later once the tunnel is complete. As I recall that's how some of the early subways were constructed. But I guess that you are a CE so I'll defer to your expertise. Finally, I realize this is /. and there's no firm requirement for someone to answer a post with a thoughtful correction but it's too bad that you felt it was it necessary to be a douchebag about it. Jeebus... Usenet groups were more civil.
  
  --
  CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
10. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by Megane · 2013-12-20 09:17 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Actually they did think of that. It's replacing a double-decker viaduct highway along the shoreline. One which was found to have weaknesses that make it not where you would want to be during an earthquake. You're also a lot more likely to be drowned in an open-air highway viaduct along the shore than in an underground tunnel. It's that little matter of the wave going horizontally, and not down through yards thick of earth.
  
  --
  #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
11. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by cellocgw · 2013-12-20 10:57 · Score: 1
  
  Jeebus... Usenet groups were more civil.
  [goes off to inspect some files in wayback.com]
  No, you're wrong, Usenet groups were hellholes. You've just forced yourself to forget those traumatic posts.
  
  --
  https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
12. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by dcooper_db9 · 2013-12-20 11:47 · Score: 1
  
  It's 45 feet deep at this, the first section. It'll reach 200 feet below surface at the deepest point.
  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/About/FollowBertha
  They will have to dig below the water line, which may be more expensive and dangerous with a trench. Besides having to move or work around tall buildings they would also have to remove more dirt. It would certainly be more disruptive to dig a trench. The more reasonable alternative would be to build an elevated highway rather than tunnel below the ground.
  
  --
  I do not block ads. I do block third party scripts.
13. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by symbolset · 2013-12-20 13:37 · Score: 1
  
  I always wanted to commute in a miles long tunnel through gelatinous muck below sea level under the waterfront of America's most earthquake-prone city.
  Oh wait, no. I didn't. I meant to prefix that with "I know someone who"
  
  --
  Help stamp out iliturcy.
14. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by volvox_voxel · 2013-12-20 16:38 · Score: 1
  
  Your question was fair, all jokes aside -- It would be interesting to hear the perspective of a real CE on the matter, and going into things like the soil composition, etc.. This is one thing I love about SD. It's not all that unusual to hear from experts in a particular field.
15. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by fyngyrz · 2013-12-20 19:11 · Score: 1
  
  Nah, those of us that think don't hang out in earthquake zones.
  rimshot
  
  --
  I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
16. Re:Doesn't sound very stable... by bill_mcgonigle · 2013-12-21 05:46 · Score: 1
  
  Nice, thanks - that's great. I was wondering how they turned the thing to make curves!
  
  --
  My God, it's Full of Source!
  OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Re:New Horror Flick... by wooferhound · 2013-12-20 06:00 · Score: 1

The Thing

--
We are Dead Stars looking back Up at the Sky
Boring? by scuzzlebutt · 2013-12-20 06:00 · Score: 3, Funny

"'Bertha,' the world's largest tunneling machine, which is currently boring..."

It's not THAT boring.

--
In C++, your friends can see your privates.
Possible Objects by DiEx-15 · 2013-12-20 06:03 · Score: 1

Listing possible things blocking a uber big drill from drilling:

1) The TARDIS
2) An "ancient" alien ship.
3) Those ET 2600 cartridges from the '80s.
4) Microsoft Surfaces that were wrote off.
5) A big rock that nobody had the foresight to see.
1. Re:Possible Objects by bjb_admin · 2013-12-20 06:19 · Score: 1
  
  6) A stargate
2. Re:Possible Objects by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-20 06:48 · Score: 1
  
  7) Secret government lab.
  8) Giant iron-nickel core of an ancient meteor.
  9) Broken cutting head.
  10) The NSA tunneling machine busy tapping fiber cables.
  11) An molecule-exact duplicate of the USS Eldridge.
  12) Gandalf.
3. Re:Possible Objects by DiEx-15 · 2013-12-20 06:59 · Score: 2
  
  13) A hour's worth of crack rock for Rob Ford
4. Re:Possible Objects by cervesaebraciator · 2013-12-20 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  14) The Technodrome.
5. Re:Possible Objects by DSElliot · 2013-12-20 07:46 · Score: 1
  
  The Loc-Nar
6. Re:Possible Objects by SuricouRaven · 2013-12-20 08:23 · Score: 1
  
  17) Atlantis
  18) Giant 'Made in China Galaxy' label.
7. Re:Possible Objects by DaveV1.0 · 2013-12-20 08:46 · Score: 1
  
  One of those mountain sized diamonds from The Core.
  
  --
  There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Re:New Horror Flick... by michrech · 2013-12-20 06:03 · Score: 1

This or this are already waiting for you. ;)

--
bork bork bork!
Re:New Horror Flick... by Antipater · 2013-12-20 06:07 · Score: 1

Would it star The Rock?

--
Everything is better with chainsaws.
Heart of the Mountain by BobSwi · 2013-12-20 06:09 · Score: 3, Funny

Clearly it is the Arkenstone. They digged too greedily and too deep.
1. Re:Heart of the Mountain by Accordion+Noir · 2013-12-20 06:41 · Score: 2
  
  "They delved too greedily" was for mithril in the Mines of Moria, the Arkenstone was buried in Tacoma.
  
  --
  "Ruthlessly pursuing the idea that the accordion is just another instrument."
2. Re:Heart of the Mountain by Daniel+Hoffmann · 2013-12-20 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  No! It is the black oil. Run for your lives.
3. Re:Heart of the Mountain by Randle_Revar · 2013-12-20 19:27 · Score: 1
  
  Tacoma? Smaug can have it!
  
  --
  Climate Progress - Hell and High Water
leave it to humans.... by axehind · 2013-12-20 06:09 · Score: 1

When we cant explain or know something, we like to make up unreal theories about what it could be. Part of human nature....
1. Re:leave it to humans.... by ewieling · 2013-12-20 07:10 · Score: 1
  
  I think most human behavior will eventually be explained by 100,000 years of evolution and the drive to pass on genes. I wonder how making stuff up when you can't know the answer improves the chances of a human passing on their genes. There must have been some evolutionary advantage during the 90,000 years humans were hunter-gatherers.
  
  --
  I really shouldn't have used someone else's email address for this account.
Re:I bet it's a rectangular solid, blue by wa2flq · 2013-12-20 06:16 · Score: 1

and sized 50"x50"x99" at least on the outside..
Where did I put that key????
my money is on by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 06:20 · Score: 1

Jimmy Hoffa
Wish I could credit properly by ThatsNotPudding · 2013-12-20 06:23 · Score: 1

Not sure where I saw it, but the funniest explanation I've seen is this:

Zunes
1. Re:Wish I could credit properly by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-12-20 07:08 · Score: 2
  
  Look in the above comments.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
Clearly it is the Arkenstone by rossdee · 2013-12-20 06:23 · Score: 1

David or Diane ?
They botht make great music
Simple... by frank_adrian314159 · 2013-12-20 06:25 · Score: 1

Fossilized grounds from Starbuck's secret dumpsite.

--
That is all.
Cannot back up by dcooper_db9 · 2013-12-20 06:26 · Score: 5, Informative

No can do. As the machine moves forward the tunnel walls are built behind it. TBM's have no reverse.
Actually the machine isn't stuck, yet. They stopped the machine because it encountered resistance. If it actually does get stuck the machine can't be dismantled underground and removed. They would have to dig it out from above, remove the TBM and install a new one. If it does get stuck let's just hope it's not under a skyscraper.
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2013/12/10_SR99tunnelingstatement.htm
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/what-could-possibly-go-wrong/Content?oid=4399657

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1. Re:Cannot back up by AttillaTheNun · 2013-12-20 07:29 · Score: 1
  
  curious, how far down do skyscraper footings go?
2. Re:Cannot back up by MouseTheLuckyDog · 2013-12-20 07:55 · Score: 2
  
  I'm hoping for the library. Then this could become a beautification project.
3. Re:Cannot back up by mythosaz · 2013-12-20 08:07 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  All the way.
4. Re:Cannot back up by drkim · 2013-12-20 09:01 · Score: 2
  
  curious, how far down do skyscraper footings go?
  It depends very much on the type of soil (or rock, or clay, or sand) underneath.
  Other factors are: what's around it (footings can spread outward as they go down - like a pyramid); earthquake area/danger; height of the building, number of sub-floors needed.
  Sometimes the footing can go deeper than the building is tall above-ground.
5. Re:Cannot back up by dcooper_db9 · 2013-12-20 09:51 · Score: 2
  
  It can range from almost zero to very deep depending on the soil and the building. Heavy buildings require deeper foundations. Soft soils need to be deeper than solid rock.
  I don't know how deep the foundations are in Seattle but I do know that the Columbia Center, which is the tallest building in WA state, has seven stories below ground. That's about 84 feet deep but the footings could be deeper. At it's deepest the tunnel will be about 200 feet below the surface. That should be deep enough to go under the Columbia Center if that's their route.
  Right now the tunnel is in zone 1 of ten zones. It's hardly even started. That's probably good if they have to dig it out. But if it can't even get through this zone the project is in deep trouble.
  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/About/FollowBertha
  
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6. Re:Cannot back up by sootman · 2013-12-20 11:02 · Score: 1
  
  > They would have to dig it out from above
  Or, leave it where it is for a future TBM to run into.
  
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7. Re:Cannot back up by symbolset · 2013-12-20 13:26 · Score: 1
  
  Again?
  
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8. Re:Cannot back up by DigiShaman · 2013-12-20 15:16 · Score: 1
  
  Sometimes the footing can go deeper than the building is tall above-ground.
  So I've been told. Houston, TX for example doesn't have bedrock. It's effectively dried up swampland. What we have is "gumbo clay". I've also been told that one of the reasons we don't have a subway is because of the unstable nature of the ground and the constant need to pump water out. In fact, we have an entire industry here that repairs residential home foundations. It's just a fact of life here.
  
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9. Re:Cannot back up by cusco · 2013-12-20 16:33 · Score: 1
  
  They're not that far north yet, they're still under low-rise buildings and warehouses.
  
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10. Re:Cannot back up by fyngyrz · 2013-12-20 19:03 · Score: 1
  
  There is a bottom, you heretic. It's a Yurtle.
  
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Armok's Whisker. by Kaenneth · 2013-12-20 06:29 · Score: 1

If it is Adamantium, they should try to mine it all out.
1. Re:Armok's Whisker. by DarwinSurvivor · 2013-12-20 11:47 · Score: 2
  
  Good idea, we'll send a giant tunnelling machine in to extract it!
Darn! by Iniamyen · 2013-12-20 06:32 · Score: 3, Funny

Unfortunately, they are going to find where we hide all of our dead Californians.
1. Re:Darn! by Pope · 2013-12-20 07:44 · Score: 1
  
  Get the folks in charge of the project to Denver, stat!
  
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  It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
It's mom. by uncqual · 2013-12-20 06:34 · Score: 1

If they check history carefully, they will find that in prehistoric times the people living there wanted a tunnel and began to bore it from the other end before money ran out. Bertha is just running into the front end of Big Bertha and they are butting (spinning) heads.
The good news is that the tunnel will now be completed ahead of schedule and we will also learn more about the irresistible force paradox.

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Why call it anything? by mark-t · 2013-12-20 06:35 · Score: 1

Giving it a vague title like "the object" implicitly connotes a sense of mystery and potential for some sort of unforeseen discovery.
It's an unknown obstruction... if they are going to call it anything, they should have just called it that.

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1. Re:Why call it anything? by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2013-12-20 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  Someone finally found the BFO 9000 hidden in that level.
  
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2. Re:Why call it anything? by VortexCortex · 2013-12-20 07:59 · Score: 1
  
  Giving it a vague title like "the object" implicitly connotes a sense of mystery and potential for some sort of unforeseen discovery.
  I object to objects being object to mysterical connotations. Occam's Razor proves ambiguity the cause for orienting a description around objects.
Picture of concrete panels lining tunnel by perpenso · 2013-12-20 06:40 · Score: 3, Informative

Here is a different link with a nice picture of concrete panels, scroll down.
http://www.gizmag.com/worlds-largest-drilling-machine-bertha/28311/
No camera or observation hatch? by swb · 2013-12-20 06:43 · Score: 1

It seems pretty strange that there's no provision for looking in front of the machine. You'd almost expect that there would be some kind of camera or way to poke a camera out an opening to see what's in front of them.
I would assume than running into weird shit digging a tunnel would be typical, although maybe it's designed with so much boring power that they only really expect to look at the overburden on the conveyor behind the boring machine.
1. Re:No camera or observation hatch? by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-12-20 07:15 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Putting a camera or hatch on the front of the cutting head makes no sense. It presses hard against a rock face and would just get smashed or scuffed up. A number of these machines will have some forward looking capacity by taking a core sample ahead of the machine regularly but unless the sample managed to drill into the unknown object they wouldn't know it was there.
  
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2. Re:No camera or observation hatch? by MouseTheLuckyDog · 2013-12-20 07:45 · Score: 1
  
  Sonar
3. Re:No camera or observation hatch? by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-12-20 07:56 · Score: 1
  
  Seems like it might be good. but I don't know if the environment these operate in would allow for effective use.
  
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  Time to offend someone
4. Re:No camera or observation hatch? by VortexCortex · 2013-12-20 08:02 · Score: 1
  
  How else can we keep the workers from knowing too much?
5. Re:No camera or observation hatch? by swb · 2013-12-20 10:15 · Score: 1
  
  Well, no shit sherlock. Nobody expects a bare lens on the face of the cutterhead.
  But I would expect a camera or cameras behind a protected recess that could be opened to allow observation of whatever it is they're running up against.
This is really interesting by Beryllium+Sphere(tm) · 2013-12-20 06:44 · Score: 5, Funny

I guess the machine isn't boring after all.
Microsoft's secret gold vault by jfdavis668 · 2013-12-20 06:48 · Score: 1

also contains Bill Gate's Microsoft stock
The devil in the dark. by ChunderDownunder · 2013-12-20 06:52 · Score: 1

That's no 'Object', it's the Horta.
A study in PR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-20 06:56 · Score: 1

Amazing how effective PR can be.
A: 'Tunneling machine blocked by a boulder, probably'
B: 'Tunneling machine B.E.R.T.H.A. blocked by THE OBJECT deep underground - scientists stumped!'
Same story, one is 'news'
'The Object' by Snufu · 2013-12-20 07:15 · Score: 3, Funny

Will it blend?
It's blocked under S. Main Street.... by sgt_doom · 2013-12-20 07:23 · Score: 1

....which was in the vicinity of Seattle's Great Fire, and they built overtop the burned out structures, so the greatest likelihood is that the structure is part of whole of an old building.
1. Re:It's blocked under S. Main Street.... by cusco · 2013-12-20 17:34 · Score: 1
  
  Bertha would chew through a building without hesitating, it's just a loosely bound pile of rocks. Instead it has hit something large and fairly solid.
  
  --
  "Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
It's obviously bedrock by Culture20 · 2013-12-20 07:25 · Score: 4, Funny

Switch to creative mode temporarily to remove it.
What's with by Old+Wolf · 2013-12-20 07:38 · Score: 2

all the boring stories lately?
I have seen this movie before by wisnoskij · 2013-12-20 07:40 · Score: 1

The object turns out to be a giant rune covered object that defies study, and oozes malignancy.
Soon all the engineers will start going crazy and killing each other, then a secret military organization will covertly retrieve "The Object", and a sole surviving member of the Engineering staff, thinking they can control and use it for military purposes.
Then in the sequel, "The Object 2: Revenge of The Object" the military lose control of The Object, and the sole survivor of the initial engineering staff has to come and save the Earth from destruction.

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It is a troglodite. by MouseTheLuckyDog · 2013-12-20 07:42 · Score: 1

And Bertha just started to boogie.
Unmovable object by tomhath · 2013-12-20 07:46 · Score: 2

encountered an unknown obstruction known as "the object."
Their framework can't handle a public static object?
1. Re:Unmovable object by Nivag064 · 2013-12-20 16:44 · Score: 1
  
  It was declared private, so they are not allowed to access it!
2. Re:Unmovable object by fyngyrz · 2013-12-20 19:17 · Score: 1
  
  The framework is fine. The linker isn't designed to put objects this size on the heap. Goddamned Insmell smegma registers.
  
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Seadderall just ran into... by Sir_Eptishous · 2013-12-20 07:49 · Score: 1

the 49ers Defense.

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It's Clamosaurus by BigT · 2013-12-20 07:55 · Score: 2

It may be the fossilized remains of Ivar's prized proto-clam: http://www.komonews.com/news/offbeat/Ivars-Mystery-object-in-tunnel-may-be-giant-fossil-clam-236438221.html

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It's a TBM for waterlogged sand and dirt by Animats · 2013-12-20 07:58 · Score: 4, Informative

This is an earth-pressure-balance type TBM built for soft sand and dirt, below water level. Compressed air is used to keep water out at the working face. That's what's needed for a tunnel under the Seattle waterfront. It can cope with rocks and boulders, but not a solid rock face. It's not a hard-rock TBM. Those have very different cutters, but can't handle waterlogged soil.
Tunneling is like that. Stuff like this happens. It will be handled.
1. Re:It's a TBM for waterlogged sand and dirt by Megane · 2013-12-20 09:23 · Score: 2
  
  That also makes hard to just pop into the cutting end for a peek around the corner. You have to go through an airlock to a pressurized environment. If you stay in the front area for more than a few minutes you will need to spend a few hours in a decompression chamber.
  
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Clamosaurus by Nethead · 2013-12-20 08:28 · Score: 1

Ivar lost his clamosaurus in just the same area when he moved his aquarium,
http://www.komonews.com/news/offbeat/Ivars-Mystery-object-in-tunnel-may-be-giant-fossil-clam-236438221.html

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Its ... by PPH · 2013-12-20 08:29 · Score: 1

... Mayor McGinn*. He always wanted to stop the project.
*He probably jammed his bicycle in Bertha's gears.

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Gotthard tunnel by SpaghettiPattern · 2013-12-20 08:30 · Score: 1

I was at the event where the Gotthard tunnels -north and south- actually connected. The last bit of rock was drilled through and the drill head became visible. A worker opened a door in the head an a festive drink was shared through that door. Didn't the designers of Bertha have at least a celebration in mind? Hell you could also think of doors to analyze issues like the one they deal with currently.

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1. Re:Gotthard tunnel by cusco · 2013-12-20 17:40 · Score: 1
  
  Bertha is well below the water table, so they have to pressurize the area in front of the cutter head to several atmospheres. When they get near the destination they'll be above the water table and will be able to open the inspection hatches at will.
  
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Dr Quatermass and the Pit by sandbagger · 2013-12-20 08:41 · Score: 1

Hi:
Look, I've seen science fiction movies. Get Dr Quatermass on the phone and for Chrissakes listen to him this time.

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Related to "The Event" by nitehawk214 · 2013-12-20 08:55 · Score: 1

As documented by Mitchell and Webb here.

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Boneshaker! by shastamonk · 2013-12-20 09:06 · Score: 1

Cherie Priest wrote a SciFi book that sounds a lot like this: http://us.macmillan.com/boneshaker/CheriePriest
What they've found by John+Allsup · 2013-12-20 09:09 · Score: 2

It's the subterranean alien control station through which, via the extreme illuminati, the governments of the US are controlled. The tinfoil hat brigade have been warning us for years, and now we have irrefutable evidence.

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1. Re:What they've found by Nivag064 · 2013-12-20 16:45 · Score: 1
  
  Except that the government of the USA has been out of control for many years!
Here is a list for further comment by sabinelr · 2013-12-20 09:11 · Score: 1

1. The original Motorola cellular mobile phone.
2. Doc's time-traveling train.
3. The kraken.
4. The gold from Fort Knox.
5. Moby Dick.
I think I've read this book... by SiriusStarr · 2013-12-20 09:11 · Score: 1

Doesn't it end in zombies? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boneshaker_(novel)

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Has anyone checked by MouseTheLuckyDog · 2013-12-20 09:14 · Score: 1

...if the Fremont Troll is still there? Maybe he decided to take this on.
On the other hand... by DerekLyons · 2013-12-20 09:17 · Score: 1

"Some residents said they believe, or want to believe, that a piece of old Seattle, buried in the pell-mell rush of city-building in the 1800s, when a mucky waterfront wetland was filled in to make room for commerce, could be Berthaâ(TM)s big trouble. That theory is bolstered by the fact that the blocked tunnel section is also in the shallowest portion of the route, with the top of the machine only around 45 feet below street grade."
On the other hand, that theory is diminished (if not demolished) by the fact that The Object is twenty feet *below* the historical grade at that location.
Re:New Horror Flick... by TangoMargarine · 2013-12-20 10:30 · Score: 1

Sounds like as good a premise as any for a Sci Fi Original Movie(tm).

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Re:Ring of Fire by TechyImmigrant · 2013-12-20 11:27 · Score: 1

Because they think they can get paid before the subduction zone stops subducting.

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THE OBJECT by timothy · 2013-12-20 11:45 · Score: 1

I couldn't read this: "The 57.5ft diameter machine has encountered an unknown obstruction known as "the object."" without thinking of *this*:
(Specifically, 1:00 to 1:20 of this clip, if you can resist watching the rest.)

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1. Re:THE OBJECT by timothy · 2013-12-20 11:49 · Score: 1
  
  Oh, yeah. I meant to include this link ;)
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKRFlNryaWw
  
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Re:New Horror Flick... by RaceProUK · 2013-12-20 12:00 · Score: 1

It could be called Objectzilla.

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A much older ship... by arfonrg · 2013-12-20 17:33 · Score: 1

It's probably a ship much older than 150 years.... I'd check for the remains of telephone sanitizers and other useless people.

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No Reverse by fyngyrz · 2013-12-20 18:57 · Score: 1

These tunneling machines are not meant to be stopped, and consequently do not have a "reverse".
We engineer types call that "a failure of vision."

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1. Re:No Reverse by DarwinSurvivor · 2013-12-21 12:36 · Score: 1
  
  And others would call it "It's cost you an extra $5 million to add a reverse". It's not just that the machine can't move backwards, it's that it installs walls behind itself that have a smaller inside diameter than the cutting head. Even if it could move backwards, it would only be able to move as far as the previous wall section (probably 8 feet at most). To go further back you either need to remove all the walls (and almost assuredly collapse the tunnel), or remove/shrink the solid steel cutting head.
2. Re:No Reverse by frisket · 2013-12-22 12:31 · Score: 1
  
  And others would call it "It's cost you an extra $5 million to add a reverse".
  And precisely how much extra is that lacking feature going to cost them now? Granted, your point about the reduced diameter. But engineers are smart enough to figure that one out.
3. Re:No Reverse by Jack+Griffin · 2013-12-23 22:51 · Score: 1
  
  Because this project had no Engineers on it. If only they had John J. Internet Forum Guy on the team, they would never had encountered these issues...
Re:Loadstone by fyngyrz · 2013-12-20 19:20 · Score: 1

It's "lodestone", you infidel. And they aren't gems, either. Did you sleep through earth science?

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Quatermass by taylorius · 2013-12-21 04:21 · Score: 1

This obstruction isn't in an area historically known as "Hobb's end" is it?
It's the tommyknockers by messymerry · 2013-12-21 06:14 · Score: 1

Seattle is about to go nuts...

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Old blast furnace site? by nessman · 2013-12-22 14:14 · Score: 1

Perhaps something like this...?
http://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2013/06/100-ton-slag-at-the-port-of-rochester/
Re:Loadstone by fyngyrz · 2013-12-23 17:25 · Score: 1

As it turns out, I had better things to do. :)

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Que ... by NikeHerc · 2013-12-26 11:24 · Score: 1

"Five Million Years to Earth" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062168/?ref_=nv_sr_1.

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