You've done your duty, which is helping convince everyone that the entire city is about to sink into the center of the earth because of Bertha. It doesn't really matter if it's true or not, does it?

In answer to someone's question on the other post: no, this spot is not on fill. Much of Pioneer Square is, but not First Avenue between Yesler and about King Street. Here's a good map of the original land contours and description of the fill, if the accompanying text is a bit hysterical about the dangers of building on fill (which exist, but are well-known and capable of being dealt with successfully).

And of course I forgot the link: http://geologywriter.com/blog/street-sma…

Ignore the fact the existing Viaduct is operating past safety limits and that it will collapse in a 7 to 9 factor quake .

Trust the people who sold you a bill of goods. It's only BILLIONS that Seattle is going to pay for these overruns ...

@2 That link confirms one of the issues I've had with the whole Bertha project from the beginning: we don't really know what kind of material we're tunneling through. This isn't like a lot of other large bore tunnels, where the soil composition may be more predictable. We're digging through the detritus of a 19th century logging, fishing, and warehouse town built partially on swamps and a fault line. And Bertha supposedly got stuck on a 21st century piece of steel pipe! Should be fun to see what she turns up next. (dead?)

So, what you're saying is that the original Pioneer Square business owner/tipster is actually painfully unaware of the area they admit jaywalking through daily. Makes sense.

"A Pioneer Square business owner sent us a photo of a hole in the median that he says is located on First Avenue South between Yesler Way and South Washington Street. He says he jaywalks over the hole on it his way to work every day and the hole's "size and depth have increased significantly" since he noticed it. "

@4, every large city in the world is built on fill. And yes, they DO know what's down there; there were many, many test bore holes drilled, not just for Bertha but for a thousand other purposes. You can see the results on that link. In fact, I think the mystery pipe that Bertha hit was a remnant of one of them. The fault there lies with whichever genius at STP or the contractor or whoever the hell saw it on the map (clearly marked) and didn't say anything.

Step 1: Acquire shovel.
Step 2: Visit Pioneer Square.
Step 3: Profit.

Oh, a tree, how convenient for tunnel supporters! Do we have any independent photographic evidence of this 'tree' or are we going to just take the city's word for it? Where is the tree now, or was it chopped up to conceal evidence placing the tree at a different location altogether? Dig deeper... (Literally. I mean, are there root remains in the hole? And how can we be sure they weren't planted there (pun intended) to their is of the trail?

I mean throw us off the trail. Got carried away there by passion for the truth.