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Object Blocking Giant Tunnel Borer Was an 8" Diameter Pipe
An anonymous reader writes "A few weeks ago we discussed news that a tunnel boring machine measuring 57.5 feet in diameter was halted underneath Seattle after running into a mysterious object. Project engineers have now figured out what the object is: an 8-inch-diameter pipe. In 2002, researchers for another project — the replacement of the Alaskan Way viaduct — drilled down into the ground to take water samples. They used the 115-ft-long pipe as a well casing. As it turns out, this well site was listed in the contract specifications given to all bidders for the tunnel's construction. In addition, the crew manning the machine noticed that it was chewing up pieces of metal, and they removed part of the pipe and kept going. Only later did they realize that significant damage had been done to the machine's cutting face. Officials aren't sure how long repairs will take, or how much they will cost."
Looks like somebody forgot to RTFM.
Even recent stuff tends not to be recorded in a nice way, like a computerized 3d model that can be used to keep all the data in one place and plan excavations. Instead it's often just a list of things in freeform text, like "well site at [lat,long], dug 2002, depth 115 ft". And older stuff is even less well documented; nobody really has an accurate map of what's under NYC.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
But it turns out that the boring machine found a boring object! (Why am I not surprised?)
Ezekiel 23:20
From TFA:
Chris Dixon, project director for contractor group Seattle Tunnel Partners, said the builders presumed there would be no pipe in the way, because casings are customarily removed after use.
When I dig in hole in my backyard, I may presume there's nothing in the ground. That's because if I hit a snag, my cost will be the price of the shovel.
But for a $1.44B hole in the ground, I'd want to make damn sure every inch I dig through presents abolutely no risk whatsoever. And since that's taxpayer's money, if I was Seattle resident, I'd sure as hell want to know who the fuck "presumed" stuff on my money...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Yo dawg, we heard you were digging a pipe, so we put a pipe in your pipe so you can tunnel while you tunnel.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
You'd think someone would have a metal detector out there, to help find such things. Yeah, I know, too obvious in hindsight from an armchair.
Well, that was a boring boring answer.
I just rise reading some shit off this site. Gave me a headache. Do you actually read this crap? I think some sort of brain damage must be required for membership.
However, Chris Dixon, project director for contractor group Seattle Tunnel Partners, said the builders presumed there would be no pipe in the way, because casings are customarily removed after use; adding, "ceci n'est pas une pipe."
yes
Damn.
My money was on it being one of these: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/90/Fringe_The_Arrival.jpg/250px-Fringe_The_Arrival.jpg
I was sure it was a buried UFO, after all it is the most likely explanation.
The problem is if there has been damage to the rest of the face, the support structure around the bits. This is not accessible while the machine is in operation, particularly for an earth pressure balance machine like they're using. (Required when there's lots of groundwater or a need to minimize surface disturbance, such as in an urban area.)
Yes, but was it an alien 8" pipe?
Even mankind’s hardened metals, in use today, would eventually melt from the continuous friction, and give way.
You mean like the metal used for the bits on the boring machine? Ever watch an inexperienced person try to drill a work hardened metal too slowly? Ever seen a blade meant for cutting only wood hit a nail? Even high quality bits will quickly dull if not used properly or not used for the material they were designed for, and you can end up with the bit being the week point that will give way from continued attempts. Usually even the least experienced idiot can figure out it won't work after their blade shatters, or seeing part of their drill bit galled into the bottom of a half drilled hole.
With some cities existing for >1000 years and having been dug over in WW2, there is often no knowing of what to expect when digging through the underground. Recently a builder operating a digger was killed by a WW2 era dud. Experts estimate that there are still 100k duds lying around and each year about 5k are being found.
Computer simulation made easy -- LibGeoDecomp
Absolutely true. Get the warnings in writing to CYA.
Table-ized A.I.
IGAFF?
I still think it was aliens. They put the pipe there!
zosxavius photography
The tunnel that Bertha is currently digging is in fact the culmination of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project. In other words, Bertha was stuck on something from earlier in its own project.
WW2 bomb blast kills digger driver in Germany: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25594000
Privacy is terrorism.
Because the last 14 committees weren't enough.
Always love a good pipe joke.
It seems strange that a relatively tiny pipe is all it takes to stop this behemoth of an excavator.
In Pasadena, California, circa 1990, they started to dig a hole for a parking structure with and movie theater combo. This was the first move to to revitalise and old part of town that was a business ghetto. As they dug down next to a 100 year or sold old 5 or 8 story brick building, the building started to show some cracks. The contractor assumed the brick building had a certain type of underground structure. But maybe not. Option one: step: spend about 2 million to excavate and see what was under the brick building. Then decide on that basis what to do. Option 2: stop digging, build the parking structure but the no the movie theater. That is what they did. At the time is was considered an economic disaster. Since then, Old Town(e) Pasadena has become a hot spot. Parking lot is on the NE lot at Green and Fair Oaks.
But someone who was involved in the planning had to know that that was possible and was betting that once dig got started it would have been too expensive and a bigger loss stop and cover the hole.
Like a monkey wrench?
Sometimes that is all is takes.
This needs to be +6 painfully hilarious
Some day we'll learn in this country... but not before we damn near destroy ourselves first.
What I don't get is that this is a huge machine designed to cut through rocks and it's being made into a little bitch by a pipe? What's this pipe made from, the stuff they use to make black boxes on airplanes?
The tunnel that Bertha's digging isn't another project — the whole reason for digging the tunnel is to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct. See here.
The wells were drilled in 2002 to study the ground after the 2001 Nisqually quake. But that's a related project, because the Nisqually quake is the reason why we got to thinking about a replacement for the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
Am I making sense? I hope I'm making sense. At any rate, the story summary needs updating.
I know it's fun, but it just doesn't make sense.
All the work would be subcontracted, the only thing the absence of brown M&Ms would indicate is whether the there are brown M&Ms. Anything else can and could be independently fouled up. Even if you think the penalty means they'll double check the M&Ms, that only means they'd double check the M&Ms. Hence is it a poor indicator.
And the idea of the entire show being forfeit is just ridiculous. Neither side wants the show to be forfeit. If they thought not having a show was a decent outcome, they wouldn't have bothered to try to have one in the first place.
It's a fun story, but don't take it too seriously.
Ehhhh just keep going.
Getting the job done the union way!
...we are promised things like UFO's, ancient relics, or rare treasure-filled archaeological wrecks, and we get what, a metal pipe? (or so they say)
And the documents show that.
Never assume. It makes an engineering project go belly up.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --