Presently, Big Bertha has a seal problem for its main bearing. They will have to dig a shaft down to the front of the machine, cut out enough area to get to it's main bearing seals, Use a crane to lift and detach its 630-ton cutter head, and see if they can find the problem and fix it. The problem may go back to the time Big Bertha was first tested in Japan by its manufacturer. During its first test, parts of the machine weren’t moving properly and caused “some metal-on-metal contact and basically damaged the seal assembly for the main bearing. This problem was supposed to be fixed. However, that may not be true after inspection of the seal assembly.
Big Bertha has suffered a previous delay when it suffered damage hitting a large pipe in December. Such delays are costing money and lawsuits are beginning to develop.
My question has always been, why didn't they fix what needed to be fixed on the existing Viaduct? It would have been cheaper with more lanes and an incredible view.
The answer, sorry to say, is that the highway construction unions have a hold on our DemonRAT politicians by the short hairs. Any expensive construction projects are Santa Clause money under the tree and into the union campaign war chest to elect more DemonRATs.
