Seattle Tunnel Boring Machine Resumes Work Again

Digging for Seattle's Highway 99 tunnel has resumed six weeks after a sinkhole prompted the state to suspend work. That suspension has been conditionally lifted for 160 feet to provide enough space for the contractor to lay 25 more 6.5-foot rings that will form the walls of the four-lane tube.

A state review committee has approved a plan by contractors to improve how soil is monitored as it flows through the giant cutting face and out the rear of the tunnel-boring machine.

Contractors content that the suspension after the sinkhole occurred was "wrongful and unjustified" and they intend to bill the state for million of dollars in delays.

(more on the latest work for the Seattle tunnel project...)