What could possibly go wrong?

Someday, someone will write a novel about this, with Bertha as one big, fat metaphor. Bertha is our Moby Dick.

It takes this for the city to finally care about the crack problem in PS?

As if there weren't enough crack on King St.

Guys. GUYS. It's not like this was a foreseeable possibility. No one, and I mean NO ONE ever suggested something could go wrong with the tunnel project having issues. Jeez.

The state found a way to literally break the city, apparently. I'll bet they feel really bad about it.

I wish this weren't so close to my office, though.

Seahawks fans Alert!! Don't fall in the crack on Sunday!!

It's just a scratch.

Someone should go poke a stick in there to see how far it goes.

Merely a flesh wound...

So sorry, that was meant as a personal snark, not by a community group that I'm not affiliated with anymore. ;-)

(re: post #11)

Ricky Gervais: "I want my back waxed, my sack waxed and my crack waxed". Karl Pilkington could not be reached for comment.

This tunnel will be Murray's albatross.

If this turns into an even bigger boondoggle, and blows way over budget, he'll eat a lot of the blame because he was mayor when it happened, and he was in the state legislature when it passed. He'll be a one-term mayor.

If this gets resolved, and Bertha gets moving again, and they complete the project without going way over budget, then this will all be forgotten, and it won't hurt him in the next election. He'll look like a star at the tunnel opening ceremony.

Given how the project has gone so far, my bet is he'll be a one-term mayor.

Who can build a tunnel? Joe Mallahan can!

@2, 15 - Its our Moby Dick AND our Albatross. And our Frankenstein.

After five years of delays, and a minor tremor that shutters the viaduct for good, the CityState will abandon Bertha in the tunnel and seal it up. Ten years later we'll discover that the weight of the machine is sinking it slowly deeper into the glacial till/backfill of the area, and several buildings will be condemned as streets are permanently closed. Another 6.3 tremor nearby will cause minor liquifaction and Bertha will sink even deeper, eventually creating a true sinkhole that causes Pioneer Square to be completely abandoned.

Oooh, Panoramic! In related news-HEY! Look at the size of that cat!
@BerthaDeBlues

Oh, it will buff right out. Nothing to see here.

The tunnel will be awesome. It is high time we started embracing civic projects like this, even really big ones. Ref: Big Dig, a success story in the end and totally worthwhile despite abundant sturm und drang.

Bunch of whiners. We'll get there when we get there.

First Avenue there is not at its original grade when the buildings were built.



To stop toilets from causing geysers at high tide, the streets were raised so the sewer lines could be raised. There is a wall at the edge of the street, with the sidewalk being a bridge from the street to the buildings.



It is possible that the walls holding the fill to raise the street is having problems. Let's not jump to conclusions that it is Bertha.