Client Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said that a ‘suspension for cause’ order is still in place. Last week, contractor Seattle Tunnel Partners submitted an analysis of recent incidents on the SR 99 tunnel project.
Bertha had recently started tunnelling again after the completion of repairs. She had been broken down for more than two years (link opens in new tab).
WSDOT and its tunnel experts determined STP’s analysis did not sufficiently address the cause of these incidents or specify how they would prevent them from occurring in the future.
WSDOT has notified the contractor that in order to lift the suspension for cause, STP must confirm that:
- the tunnelling machine is operating as intended and meets the design-build contract’s technical requirements
- all necessary training for staff on the tunnelling machine is complete
- the tunnelling work plan is updated to address the issues that led to the sinkhole
- processes are in place to ensure STP’s tunnelling work plan is followed
- STP updates its quality programme to ensure key quality program managers are involved in all tunnelling activities.
“It is STP’s responsibility to determine how to address these issues and ensure they are in compliance with the technical requirements of the contract,” said WSDOT. “This section of the tunnel drive was designed to be a test section for operation of the tunnelling machine. With approximately 250 feet of tunnelling prior to reaching the next planned maintenance stop, demonstration of these steps is critical.”
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