The first rule of digging holes, as most schoolchildren know, is that when things are going badly, stop digging.
Through no wisdom or planning of its own, the state, in its effort to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct, stopped digging its downtown State Route 99 tunnel one year ago. “Bertha,” the humongous machine charged with digging SR 99’s new home, broke down when a bearing filled with grit. It overheated, leaving its cutter incapable of moving dirt. On Dec. 6, Bertha celebrated its first anniversary of sitting idle somewhere under Pioneer Square. ...