$6 million machine, $25 million to rescue, hmmmm. Why not ditch the machine, bring in a new one (or shop around for one “gently used”), and start all over again. I’d also recommend a different engineering firm to create the plans for this big drain. The new firm could do a lot of research on development above the projected drain tunnel, to determine whether or not there are any anchoring cables, gas lines, sanitary sewers, etc in the proposed path of the drain.
And here’s a prediction. Those anchoring cables connected to the foundations of the condos were put there for a reason. Those tall buildings can fall down and go boom.
If i interpreted the photo from the CBC article correctly, the less than scintillating machine had nearly completed the full distance it needed to excavate when it hit the steel bars that it is now entangled in. I’m not sure why someone with a gas powered cut-off saw couldn’t free the poor thing and then just pull it out into the cavity that the picture was taken from.
I’m not seeing the same picture, I guess. From what I’ve heard of these sorts of machines, they have a cutting head of a certain diameter, and behind that they place concrete blocks to shore up the walls of the tunnel. The result is that the tunnel is smaller than the cutting head. You can’t bring it out the way it went in; at least, not in one piece.
If I remember correctly, two of the boring machines that made the Channel Tunnel are still buried somewhere near the middle. The two machines that started from England had a greater diameter than the two that started from France. When they got near the middle, the two English machines angled downward and buried themselves. The two French machines completed the tunnels, and were small enough to be hauled forward and brought out of the tunnels on the English side.
When I was new at my job, I encountered a map entitled, “Boring Locations in Lee County.” I had only been here a few years but I already knew it would be quicker to map out the non-boring locations.
What’s the old joke I’m reminded of? I think it goes something like, “God must be a civil engineer; because who else would have had the sense of humor to put a recreational area right next to a sewage outlet”.
