I have a theory about this. Not so many years ago the Liberals of Boston created an expensive mess with the fabulous Big_Dig. I suspect the Liberals of Seattle got miffed at all the attention they got and money they got to spend and decided to outdo them with their own expensive mess, the "fixing" of problems with what is called the Alaska Viaduct. Here's the latest chapter.

"A dispute review board found Washington State should pay its contractors—Seattle Tunnel Partners (STP)—for “tackling severe groundwater flows at the Highway 99 tunnel machine’s launch pit” in Seattle’s Sodo district. The dispute between the state and STP over who would pay for the added costs arose after the contractors filed a change-order request worth $20 million two years ago—a request the state denied.

The dispute board did not specify the amount that the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) owes to STP, “only that it should shoulder the bill because groundwater conditions differed from data the state gave contractors.” The Seattle Times reports that WSDOT’s “1.44 billion tunnel-construction contract already contains a $40 million fund for unexpected soil conditions and major interventions, such as breaking boulders in front of tunnel-boring machine Bertha.”

Yesterday, Todd Trepanier, the state’s Highway 99 administrator, told the state House Transportation Committee that the amount due “can be paid for without what is considered a cost overrun in the budget.” As optimistic as Trepanier’s assurances sound, the reality of the dispute board’s decision forebodes a more sinister future for taxpayers.

The headaches caused by Highway 99 project are ongoing. As the Seattle Times points out, the dispute board’s finding “proves that the state can’t continue to presume taxpayers will be safe from cost increases.” Particularly, the costs accumulated by Bertha, the tunnel boring machine, which has been stalled near Pioneer Square for more than a year. Rather, the decision is “an early step among many, which could include negotiations, arbitration or lawsuits to determine who pays for added costs.”

The dispute board’s finding has left state officials singing a very different tune than last year. Just last April, Trepanier insisted that there was a “very slim chance” taxpayer would shoulder the burden of STP’s change-order request, which were then estimated at $190 million.

Yesterday, Trepanier was forced to admit to the state House Transportation Committee that more disputes are expected. In total, STP’s change-order requests have reached $210 million—that figure includes the estimated cost of $125 million for Bertha’s delays and repairs. By contrast, the state has $144 million in in contingency and intervention funds.

http://shiftwa.org/state-loses-bertha-co...campaign=buffer

Emphasis added. At last reports Bertha the Boring Machine was stuck in the tunnel 'cause when it broke down it was discovered no one thought to include a reverse gear. So to fix it they had to dig another tunnel to reach it and repairs are in process, or are supposed to be. Who knows? In addition it seems the boring done by Bertha may be destabilizing buildings in tourist attraction Pioneer Square and something, just what no one is sure, to prevent this from happening.

Ha! Take that MA lefties. We're coming to get ya.