Monday afternoon, the giant red crane looming over Seattle's waterfront began hoisting Bertha's 4-million-pound, malfunctioning cutter head to the surface. It's a tricky maneuver — the cutterhead itself is five stories tall — which could take 16 hours or longer, according to Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP). The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) plans to keep the Viaduct open (gulp) throughout the unearthing. But we shouldn't worry. STP says that the super crane doing all the heavy lifting was built by the U.S. firm Mammoet, which has successfully lifted a whole Russian nuclear sub from the bottom of the Barents Sea. This time-lapse video, in which we learn that "it takes two cranes and months of hard work to build a SUPER crane," shows the crane being built.
It's likely to be the middle of the night before the work is completed. You can follow the progress on the live pit cam. And keep an eye out for a report by Crosscut's David Kroman tonight.
