http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster
Posted on 02/07/2014 10:58:37 PM PST by steve86
The Highway 99 tunnel machine could be sidelined for several more weeks, to fix damaged seals that lubricate and protect the drive system that spins the giant cutter.
The revelation comes two months after the drill failed to grind ahead and operators shut it down. The machine known as Bertha tweeted in December that she was doing fine, just facing an obstruction. An 11-day inspection in January found no big obstacles, turning engineers’ attention inward.
Officials on Friday announced the seal assembly is damaged, and that probably contributed to heat spikes within the main bearing Dec. 7 and during a restart attempt Jan. 28-29.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...
Replacement seal: $5 Million
Union members "working hard to repair it"?
Probably triple that.
The Big Dig....Seattle style
lol
big white elephant crack a tusk?
2 months idle, still being paid
RE: “2 months idle, still being paid.”
Is that what the contract calls for?
They don’t discuss that in the news report.
I’ll guess “Sand Hogs” are near the top of the union pay scale as far as construction labor goes.
Skilled labor is probably $60/hour in one of those holes.
With all the water, union electricians probably get $75/hour.
And that’s not ALL the bad news.
They started digging 6 months ago.
They have “advanced” on only 36 days.
Total progress: 1,023 feet
Still to go: 8,250 feet
Hire a Mexican tell him to bring his friends.
Problem solved.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster
It is so frustrating to read poorly researched articles by today's "journalists", who know so little about anything, that they "don't know what they don't know", yet think they know enough to write a story without proper research.
Seals probably in this application, do "protect" the drive system.
Few seals are made to "lubricate" anything, but to protect the lubricant from dirt, and to contain the lubricant so it remains where it is needed.
There are a few, rare seals, such as those made of lignum vitae wood that do actually seal and lubricate.
I tend to doubt that type of seal is used in this machine, although, at my age, I am coming to "know what I don't know", so there is a small chance I am wrong.
But WSDOT can only voice their concerns, leaving the boring group up to their own decisions (and their own liabilities).
I imagine the cost will be on the boring group. But what happens when they decide to just declare bankcrupcy? I hope that the state has some protection against that.
On the Brightwater Sewer Tunnel from a few years ago the one contractor got one (maybe it was two?) machines stuck. It just so happened that another boring was in town that had just finished a transit tunnel. The state/county got the second guy to finish the sewer tunnel, and at a lower price!
Someone should whisper in Bertha’s ear that her divorced husband’s wallet is beneath the soil; she’d dig a hole to China in half an hour.
Ain't that the truth. I hired two Mexicans to build a fence for me, and to take out a tree right in it's path. I couldn't believe it as a big guy hacked at the tree, stump and roots with an ax and pickax for a couple hours, non-stop. Big tree, big stump, no problem for him, no power tools. They can do that job in Seattle without Bertha.
Thats why if you please i am on my bended knees ...Bertha don’t you come round here any more.......
There are a few, rare seals, such as those made of lignum vitae wood that do actually seal and lubricate.
A Labyrinth Seal is one such seal.
Don’t know if you were aware of this type of mechanical seal but thought you might be interested. It is fairly common in the power industry.
I have no idea if it would be useful in this application.
“...there is a small chance I am wrong.”
I thought I was wrong once but, I was mistaken ;)
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