The Half Moon Bay Review just reported that a small breakthrough hole has been dug in preparation for the official breakthrough ceremony planned this week:
Diggers deep inside Devil’s Slide tunnel poked a small hole at the end of the north end of the northern bore Wednesday morning in preparation for the official break through ceremony on Friday afternoon. Workers weren’t sure how long it would take to actually pop through so they preemptively dug through the last leg of the tunnel to insure tomorrow’s ceremony would go smoothly, explained a Caltrans engineer who preferred not to be named.
Although Caltrans has invited media and dignitaries for Friday’s ceremonial punch through the dirt, Wednesday’s premature drilling was nonetheless exciting for workers because daylight streamed in through the northern portal, three years after starting the project.
The drilling Wednesday morning took about an hour and a half, explained the Caltrans engineer. This was much longer than expected. The tunnel break through marks the final stages of boring, but the tunnel won’t be open for drivers until late 2011 or early 2012.
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