Lawsuit over SR 99 tunnel delays goes to trial

A high-stakes jury trial is beginning in Olympia over delays to the State Route 99 tunnel project.

The breakdown of the giant drill named Bertha meant the tunnel did not open until last February, and contractors and the state are now fighting in court over the cost of repairs and delays.

Bertha broke down in 2013 just a thousand feet into its two-mile dig beneath Downtown Seattle.

On Thursday, a lawyer for the Washington State Department of Transportation said the contractor, Seattle Tunnel Partners, owes the state $57.2 million dollars in liquidated damages, calculated at $50,000 per day under the contract, for finishing the tunnel late.

"STP missed the agreed-upon date by 867 days," David Goodnight told the jury.

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State officials say Bertha first ran into problems during its unveiling ceremony in Japan.
Once in Seattle, WSDOT contends contractors failed to properly assemble and run Bertha, allowing the machine to clog.

"STP was cutting corners," Goodnight said.

Seattle Tunnel Partners maintains Bertha was working just fine, and only broke down because it hit a steel pipe that a previous state contractor had put in its path.

"The steel pipe, that's what did it," said STP attorney John Dingess.

Contractors say Bertha was not designed to chew through steel and they thought the pipe was plastic.

"WSDOT had known since 2002 since it installed that pipe that the pipe was made of steel," Dingess said.

As KIRO 7 was first to report, contractors later lost pieces of that pipe, key evidence in the case.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy ruled STP cannot present anything in court about those lost pieces causing damage to the cutter tools.

Goodnight told the judge Dingess violated that ruling during opening arguments.

After the jury left, Murphy agreed STP's attorney did indeed cross the line.

Murphy is expected to instruct the jury about the lost evidence at some point during the trial, which could last weeks.

Dingess told jurors STP spent more than $300 million repairing Bertha during the two-year breakdown.
STP has sought reimbursement from WSDOT, but state officials contend the design-build contract protects taxpayers.

"I will ask you to hold STP responsible and also to deny all their claims against WSDOT," Goodnight told the jury.

Cox Media Group