The Daily Breeze by Sandy Mazza 4/20/2017
A 950-ton steel tunnel-boring machine named Harriet that carved out 2 miles of earth for a light rail line headed to Los Angeles International Airport will be dismantled underneath South Los Angeles on Friday.
A year after beginning subterranean work digging LA Metro’s extended Crenshaw/LAX Line, Harriet will be hauled out of LA Metro’s future Leimert Park Station in pieces.
Giving the machine a female name is a long tradition among tunneling engineers.
“Like ships, tunnel-boring machines are named before they begin work for the first time to bring good luck,” according to a Metro statement. “A female name is chosen because, historically, underground workers looked to Saint Barbara for protection. She is the patron saint for military engineers (and) miners.”
Since last April, the 400-foot-long tunnel borer — which has a cutter head on its front shield that removes dirt like a cheese grater — dug two tunnels beneath Crenshaw Boulevard for the line’s extension from the Green Line in El Segundo to the Expo Line in South LA.
Eight new stations are under construction in the Crenshaw District, Inglewood, Westchester and LAX. They will open in fall 2019. In addition to serving the airport, the line will brush near the new NFL stadium rising in Inglewood that will be the home of the Rams and Chargers.
An average of 60 feet per day of tunnel was dug during the year Harriet spent working underground with a 15-member crew. All together, holes the equivalent length of 30 football fields were dug. Progress moved at a rate of about 3 inches per minute, according to Metro officials.
“Part of the process is to pull her out of the underground hole. Right now, she’s outside the tunnel inside the station,” said Metro spokesman Jose Ubaldo. “We’re going to have cake (Friday morning) and take pictures before she’s dismantled and taken away.”
Harriet’s next job hasn’t been announced. But SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that he plans to buy a tunnel-boring machine to learn how to improve the speed and efficiency of tunnel digging as an underground pedestrian bridge is dug for employees.
More:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/20170420/will-harriet-the-tunnel-boring-machine-go-to-spacex-now-that-her-work-on-crenshawlax-metro-line-is-done
