Gigantic device , known as Bertha , stopped working in December 2013 after digging just 1,000ft of a highway tunnel . Workmen used a huge red crane to pull the front end of the broken-down tunnel in painstaking operation . The machine was so big that it had to be towed by truck from its home at the bottom of the mountain into town where workers were able to remove and dismantle it piece - meal for free. Breakdown has meant the $ 80 million project to replace the Alaska Way has been delayed by two years .
Gigantic device , known as Bertha , stopped working in December 2013 after digging just 1,000ft of a highway tunnel . Workmen used a huge red crane to pull the front end of the broken-down tunnel in painstaking operation . Crane was lifted to ground level at a rate of four inches a minute and using seven miles of cable . Breakdown has meant the $ 80 million project to replace the Alaska Way has been delayed by two years .