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Seattle's Behemoth Boring Machine, Idle Since 2013, Makes Some Progress
After being blocked by an obstruction ("the object") which left it idle just over two years ago, repair work has continued on Bertha, Seattle's enormous tunnel-boring machine. Now, reports KOMO News and The Seattle Times, Bertha is once again ready to work. From The Times' coverage:
Tuesday morning's push of one and a half feet provided Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP) enough space behind Bertha’s drive motors to fasten the next concrete ring at the 1,085-foot mark of the planned 9,270-foot tube. Chris Dixon, STP project manager, is calling this a testing phase. The team is measuring how Bertha responds while rotating through heavy loads of compacted sand. Last week, a fixed steel arm in the front end broke and needed a one-day repair. ... This week’s two-day push would leave the nose of the drill just short of the north edge of the concrete vault, dug in 2014 so STP could reach and lift the 4million-pound front end for repairs. The winning bid from STP called for the tunnel to be completed this month.
Boring.
Well, I guess if it hasn't done anything since 2013 it is certainly a machine capable of boring even a behemoth!
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
From the headline, I thought this was going to be an article about Microsoft.
Another boring story on slashdot.
I understand that when it hit the metal casing, it overheated. Couple of questions I've got that after looking, didn't find the answer:
I thought this was capable of boring through rock, how come it couldn't go through a metal pipe? Ok, it can't go through the pipe, how could this thing not have tons of sensors capable of detecting the overheating issue?
Another boring story on slashdot.
You know the drill..
I seem to remember that they hit a pipe and keep drilling, even though the pipe had been identified and listed in the contract?
Yeah but they have baristas dressed in bikinis in drive-thru coffee stands!
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
Bikinis at $15/hour
Seattle consistently ranks in the top three US cities on a whole host of criteria, and has the second-highest percentage of the population with graduate degrees (after San Francisco), so probably not exactly the stupidest motherfuckers on Earth.
Have you ever been to San Antonio, Orlando, Louisville or Tampa?
You are welcome on my lawn.
It was stupid when we approved it even if boring through Seattle's seafront wasn't a terrible idea. Now I wish everyone that voted yes had to pay for overruns personally.
Get it? LOL hahahahaha
Yes. But the path of the tunnel runs through what is essentially an old land fill. So the machine should have been designed to deal with old steam boilers, scrap iron, chunks of concrete/rebar, etc.
Have gnu, will travel.
Let's see if they can fail as badly as this project. There's still plenty of opportunity.
Seattle's taxpayers have to be the most stupid motherfuckers on Earth.
No, but they are the most stupid of taxpayers in the Pacific Northwest.
As a Seattleite, Bertha has been a huge, expensive disappointment so far, but we all hope in our hearts that eventually this *&$%@ thing will get the job done.
And maybe, just maybe they'll come away with some lessons learned form this kabillion dollar, 0.5mph joyride.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Seattle's taxpayers have to be the most stupid motherfuckers on Earth.
Yeah, like we have a fucking choice? The Seattle city council and the jackoffs in Olympia spend our money however they feel like it with ZERO responsibility to the citizens and taxpayers here. Pretty much like most cities, frankly. They do what they want, when they want, and ignore anything we tell them.
Witness the fucking toll lanes on 405- NO ONE wanted these fucking things, they government went back on their promise to add a 3rd lane to make up for the two lanes they took away, and now traffic is a nightmare every day. They take away two entire lanes from a major freeway, and whaddya know, now traffic in the remaining lanes is a nightmare all day long. Gee, who could have seen that coming? This is artificial scarcity at it's best.
Sometimes the tolls to use those lanes (only about 8 miles long) are almost $10 one way. Trust me, no one in the voting public voted for this shit. Now there's an initiative to scrap the tolling, but do you think that DOT or the government will listen? Of course not, they don't give a shit because either they never have to use those lanes or they can afford to pay the money to drive in the Princess Lanes.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Yeah but they have baristas dressed in bikinis in drive-thru coffee stands!
Yes, yes we do. :)
Although we call them "Horizontal Hospitality Workers".
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
What was blocking the tunnel machine? It was the shallowest part of the tunnel. It could be an iron ship sunk 100 or 150 years ago.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Just Google for "Seattle Director's Rules" that were created to prevent us from getting cable TV or good phone service. They're now preventing faster than 1.5 Mbps DSL from being provided in Seattle. That's why so many people here still use dial-up or ISDN.
Seattle consistently ranks in the top three US cities on a whole host of criteria, and has the second-highest percentage of the population with graduate degrees (after San Francisco), so probably not exactly the stupidest motherfuckers on Earth.
Have you ever been to San Antonio, Orlando, Louisville or Tampa?
But the traffic sucks. They should build a tunnel or something.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
of private industry doing it better than government. Sitting around for two years doing nothing and still getting paid. What a job.
Sounds a lot like insurance companies. Force people to pay up but never do the thing you've been paid to do. The greatest scam on Earth, next to religion.
Don't worry Seattle taxpayers, this private company will use as much of your tax dollars as it takes to get the job done.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
On paper you may be correct. But in real life, the "machine" did 1 mile in nearly 3 years. The theory doesn't survive reality. You can't build a real tunnel with "it should work"s.
Compare this to the Panama Canal: 48 miles in 10 years, with the most advanced tech being steam-powered excavating machines. Not underground, but there was a mountain to go through, water to deal with, and all the jungle stuff (diseases, insects, animals).
This Seattle thing is the worst case ever of machine worshipping and engineering mental masturbation.
lucm, indeed.
I don't know. I live in Seattle and there are quite a lot of stupid people.
Seattle's taxpayers have to be the most stupid motherfuckers on Earth.
Yeah, like we have a fucking choice?
Actually you did. Every single one of them was voted in by you dumb fucks.
Heh... Everett. They've got a Naval base there. I have been there but I don't recall any Bikini workers. This was the late 1970s. They only had whores.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Pfft... Pope, I hold a Ph.D... I'll let that sink in for a minute.
Good? Alright. No, having a Ph.D is not indicative of intelligence by default. I know some highly educated idiots and, sometimes, put myself into that category.
However, I concede your point about San Antonio, Orlando, Louisville, and Tampa. I will, on the other hand, offer this:
http://www.online-phd-programs...
And, because someone has to, I'll add that Seattle is probably home of the most hipsters and SJWs! (Someone had to throw that out there.)
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
And even that 1.5 Mbps DSL is hard to get in a lot of the city due to the age of the phone wiring.
This city us so anti-corporation that we cut off our own noses to spite our faces.
I've lived in Seattle all of my life, but haven't yet lived somewhere I could get cable. I hate the director's rules.
Whatever happened to using good old dynamite to clear the obstruction?
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
And the Director's Rules make it nearly impossible to replace the wiring.
Seattle taxpayers are not paying for this project, except insofar as they are taxpayers to the State and the Feds, which are. "Local" funding is a small percentage of the $3 billion project. Further:
1. I-5 is a parking lot. Traffic congestion in Seattle is 5th worse in the nation.
2. The current Alaskan Way Viaduct is an ugly concrete behemoth.
3. The current Alaskan Way Viaduct is going to fall down.
4. The current Alaskan Way Viaduct carries 110,000 vehicles a day.
5. We can all ride bicycles because the city has closed one entire lane of most downtown streets to accommodate it.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
There were fewer before you got there.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Artificial scarcity is what it is all about these days.
Even in Canada, where I am.
This is all done to encourage transit or high density development. Not that those aren't worthy goals, but I'd prefer they actually tried doing things in a positive manner but you know... proper planning, building good transit... instead of making life so miserable, people are forced to change their ways.
They're also doing tolling here, and mandating density... all the while... not much new transit. Oh they keep saying it's coming.
Ah well... misery loves company!
Artificial scarcity is what it is all about these days.
Yep, dry up or kill off a resource, then charge to provide it back to the victims you took it from. That'll be the new hot business model for the next couple of decades, until the people that think this shit up are stuffed into 55-gallon drums and dropped overboard on a dark moonless night.
Oh wait, did I say that last part out loud?
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Yes. But the path of the tunnel runs through what is essentially an old land fill. So the machine should have been designed to deal with old steam boilers, scrap iron, chunks of concrete/rebar, etc.
It should have been designed so it could have been repaired in place if it broke. Currently waiting for it to break down again under some skyscraper in downtown.
Heh... Everett. They've got a Naval base there. I have been there but I don't recall any Bikini workers. This was the late 1970s. They only had whores.
Oh, there are lots of Bikini Baristas around, you hardly have to even look for them. Probably 50% of the little independent places feature cute gals wearing nothing but undies or bikinis or whatever.
I mean, that's what I hear, I certainly wouldn't know from *cough* personal experience.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
If there is any doubt about this, consider the fact that they voted to tax themselves to pay $300 million for a new football stadium for a team owned by one of the richest men in the world with a net worth of $20 billion and owner of a $200 million yacht.
I don't think there are any around here until Spring Break comes around and then there are just hoards of chicks with little clothing on and they tend to spill over onto my private section. I don't mind or anything but I have a little lady with me this time. I think it might be prudent to go back north before the middle of February hits. My kids have spent more time here than I have but I've come down to enjoy the view during Spring Break. I'm watching the sunset, of course. Yeah, that's the view that I speak of.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Have you ever been to San Antonio, Orlando, Louisville or Tampa?
Stand by. We're not quite sure where Bertha will surface.
Have gnu, will travel.
Your premise is pretty wacky. PhDs are hardly a good indicator of intelligence, as you yourself mentioned.
That is my point.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Bikinis at $15/hour
$15 + tips, there isn't a separate minimum wage for tipped employees versus non-tipped employees.
I was there visiting around 2008, the TV made it sound like the Bikini Baristas were just starting, I did notice that the others Baristas weren't above showing more cleavage when the tip jar was put.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
I'm guessing the poster is a native-born Seattlite, since s/he uses "The Times" to refer to the The Seattle Times, seemingly unaware the this means The New York Times or The London Times to most of the world. I lived in Seattle a couple of times, and it was clear that most people there thought that Seattle was the center of world. It wasn't and it isn't, but I wish them luck with their tunnel.
I was out that way in the 1970s and then, for a short spell, again in the early 1990s. Other than that, I've been that way for a few Microsoft events but those are kind of in the opposite direction so I spent no additional time in Everett. I did have a younger friend who was in the Navy and stationed there. His ship was the USS Stennis and that was her home harbor. I've forgotten which carrier group she was assigned to but it might have been the Ford.
I have no knowledge beyond that and I don't rightly recall the Bikini girls from my latter visits. I've had the fortune of encountering them at other locations but paying people to remove their clothing is really not that exciting for me. If I am going to pay someone to remove their clothing then, frankly, it seems a bit self-defeating unless I'm paying for services that go beyond that point.
Not that I'm going to admit to such behavior, or anything, but that if I *were* going to do so then I'd want to purchase more services than people removing their clothing. With society as it is now, and with the prevalence of the internet, I can generally find find people who are willing to provide the clothing removal services (and more) for little or no financial investment.
Yeah, I should probably post this as an AC. ;-) I won't. I stand by what I said or, more accurately, what I did not say.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
No, the tunnel goes BELOW the landfill. The pipe was left from a prior geological survey.
This week a broken steel arm in the front end was fixed.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Yeah but they have baristas dressed in bikinis in drive-thru coffee stands!
Yes, but Portland has the record density of stip clubs. Like every coffee shop has a little stage at the back with somebody bumping and grinding.
Seattle consistently ranks in the top three US cities on a whole host of criteria, and has the second-highest percentage of the population with graduate degrees (after San Francisco), so probably not exactly the stupidest motherfuckers on Earth.
Have you ever been to San Antonio, Orlando, Louisville or Tampa?
I've been to all those places.
San Antonio was a ring of decay surrounding a river themed tourist trap.
Orlando is Disney. Enough said.
Louisville. When I asked the concierge for a vegetarian restaurant (I was traveling with an Indian colleague) he suggested the steak house across the road.
Tampa? Would you like some murder with your excess humidity?
Seattle isn't Portland. But it's a place I wouldn't mind living.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.