Q13Fox » This news story focuses on the ongoing problems on the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project, a mega design-build project in Washington State. In early February 2014, Washington State Department of Transportation officials announced that the tunnel boring machine, known as Bertha, may be stalled underground for months to come. The $80 million machine stalled in December 2013 has yet to resume work. Both state and contractor inspectors were set to work to discover the issue with the machine. These inspections revealed that the seals on the machine’s cutter head were contaminated with sand, dirt and water which in turn caused the machine to overheat. Currently the contractor is working with the tunneling machine’s manufacturer Hitachi Zosen to repair the seal but all the alternatives are complex and will take months to complete. This delay has raised questions over who will be responsible for the time delays and corresponding cost increases. While WSDOT has assured the public that their contractor, Seattle Tunnel Partners, will be held responsible, often in design build projects it is the public that pays.