Thursday, August 2, 2012

The Big Dig at PortMiami

Tunnel boring worker Ludovic Demarle pumps his fist as he pops out from behind the large blade used to excavate the new PortMiami tunnel.
Click Here for Tunnel Drilling Slide Show
Tunnel Drilling is Halfway Done!


The sight of the enormous drill named “Harriet”, reminded me of Darth Vader’s Death Star. The tunnel boring machine excavating under Government Cut was starting to peek through after months of digging from Watson Island.  Just as the largest chunks of rock pounded the earth the Star Wars Imperial Death March ringtone on someone’s cell phone went off. 
This image was shot with a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV SLR Digital camera with a Canon zoom wide angle - telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. Shutter speed at 1/2000 second, F-stop 6.3 with an ISO of 250.


BY ARIANNA PROTHERO
APROTHERO@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The making of an under-the-bay tunnel from the MacArthur Causeway to PortMiami reached a milestone Tuesday when the giant boring machine completed half the journey through Government Cut eight months after the digging began.

Now that one side of the tunnel has been carved out, the machine will be taken apart, turned around and pointed in the opposite direction to dig another tunnel back toward Watson Island. Read More Here:



Miami Herald Video by Jose Iglesias  
This second video is by Miami Herald
graphic designer Marco A. Ruiz
Jose Iglesias, at left, and Al Diaz at PortMiami recording history.