Tunnelling for the Evergreen Line, which was halted in early June after a fourth sinkhole developed at Clarke Road and Seaview Drive, is not expected to resume for at least another month.
On Friday, project leader Amanda Farrell told The Tri-City News crews are working on stabilizing the ground so that they can safely change the tools on the boring machine.
“We are anticipating they will have that work done and be boring again toward the end of July,” she said. “Then, they will resume boring underneath Clark toward Robinson.”
Ground conditions have complicated the tunnelling process, she said.
OPENING STILL SET FOR FALL 2016
Last month’s sinkhole was the fourth time depressions in the pavement have occurred since last October, when a sinkhole developed in the Chateau Place parking lot. In January, a second sinkhole formed at Cecile Drive, before a third one appeared at Seaview and Clarke in April.
The delays have pushed the opening of the Evergreen Line from the summer to the fall of 2016, a deadline Farrell said will not have to be moved given the recent boring issues.
“We put some flexibility on that so we are still on the fall 2016 schedule,” she said. “It has taken longer than anticipated, there is no question about that.”
While the tunnelling is behind schedule, progress that has been made on other parts of the line, Farrell said.
She noted the overall project is 60% complete and the stations are between 65% and 95% finished. All of the guideways outside of the tunnel are built and the rails are currently being put into place.
Farrell said residents can expect to see trains rolling next month as crews work to test the tracks and iron out any issues in the line.
“Overall, everything is going extremely well,” she said. “We just have this challenge with the tunnel we have to work through.”
@gmckennaTC
