Awaiting ‘Bertha’: Tuesday ‘midday’ arrival for tunneling machine

8:51 PM: If you’ve been awaiting an update on what time tomorrow we’ll see the ship carrying “Bertha,” the custom-built machine that’ll dig the Highway 99 tunnel, WSDOT’s newest estimate via Twitter tonight is for a “midday” arrival – get the backstory here. It’s in 41 pieces on board the Jumbo Fairpartner, a heavy-lift ship you’ll recognize for its giant cranes (see a photo in our story on its departure). The live monitoring website MarineTraffic.com still labels it “out of range”; we don’t know if that’ll change as it gets closer, since it’s already reported to be in Washington waters, but WSDOT promises updates via its Twitter account @BerthaDigsSR99, and we will have updates tomorrow morning in all our channels too.

EARLY TUESDAY: Got a tip around 1:30 am that Fairpartner now shows up on MarineTraffic.com – just put its name in the “vessel” box.

TUESDAY 8:30 AM: We’re tracking Bertha right now in the daily traffic report, and will switch that over to a standalone report a bit later.

JJM April 2, 2013 (7:09 am)

Doing a quick check on marinetraffic.com it looks like she’ll be in about 11:40 this morning.

Jumbo April 2, 2013 (8:32 am)

http://www.jumbomaritime.nl/fleet/detail.web?ship=285

WSB April 2, 2013 (8:33 am)

Thanks, Jumbo! We linked to a PDF with specs but obviously you have a better link :)

sam-c April 2, 2013 (10:19 am)

where is it ultimately headed, exactly ? like a pier near the launch pit? assuming not harbor island- that doesn’t seem right. wondering where to watch for it from West Seattle.

WSB April 2, 2013 (10:21 am)

Sam – it’s going to the downtown waterfront near the Launch Pit indeed. I think Duwamish Head is a good spot but you’ll see it from Alki too and certainly from Jack Block. Here’s the official info page.
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http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/Viaduct/About/followbertha
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We will be launching a final tracking page in just a couple minutes.

AKM April 2, 2013 (12:43 pm)

The vessel has arrived. It’s in Elliott Bay right now. I am downtown in the Russell Building and can see it very clearly. Thanks, WSB, for providing photos — helped me make a positive ID!