7 ms·

Amazing that they managed to fill two whole pages of speculation about what might be under that bit of Seattle without once mentioning the giant underground cit

Amazing that they managed to fill two whole pages of speculation about what might be under that bit of Seattle without once mentioning the giant underground city that actually is under that bit of Seattle. Or at most a few blocks away: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground They talked to the local city librarian, so clearly she must have mentioned the tourist attraction where you can go down and see all the buildings that sank into the mud before they decided to raise the street level, oh, around 45 feet. So now when they're digging a new tunnel 45 feet under that spot, it's tough to understand why they're in any way surprised that they hit something building-ish.

scotth 13y ago
Looks like you missed this. Paragraph 7: > Some residents said they believe, or want to believe, that a piece of old Seattle, buried in the pell-mell rush of city-building in the 1800s, when a mucky waterfront wetland was filled in to make room for commerce, could be Bertha’s big trouble. That theory is bolstered by the fact that the blocked tunnel section is also in the shallowest portion of the route, with the top of the machine only around 45 feet below street grade.
- incision 13y ago
  >"Looks like you missed this." Or not. When I read this yesterday, knowing nothing of Seattle history I felt a lot like what the parent is expressing because of the quoted bit. The article spends 1200 words basically forcing speculation on "the object" (So ominous!) and casting a load of preemptive ("want to believe") doubt on an obvious explanation. It's the scripted "reality" TV analog for news - manufacturing suspense from the mundane. That said, I do hope "the object" is in fact an alien spacecraft.
ryanthejuggler 13y ago
I laughed when I saw the map. Compare [1] from the article with [2], which mostly corresponds to the location of the Seattle Underground. I went on the Underground tour earlier this year. It's really interesting and pretty funny too; after a large earthquake at one point they used the tunnels to hide a lot of the debris. I'd definitely recommend the tour; that said, I would definitely not want to be down there when something like this hits the wall! A big object blocks Bertha. What is it? http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Seattle+Underground http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Seattle+Underground [1] http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/12/20/us/20tunnel-graphic/20tunnel-graphic-popup.jpg http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/12/20/us/20tunnel-g... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Square,_Seattle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Square,_Seattle
- arbuge 13y ago
  We (my family, i.e.) personally found that tour rather short and significantly overpriced at $17 for about 75 minutes... in spite of that it was packed with tourists who paid extra for priority seating at the start of the tour (which isn't worth anything in practice). A real money spinner.
  - pessimizer 13y ago
    Isn't that about the price of a movie + popcorn and drink these days?
  - colanderman 13y ago
    Overpriced? Sure, but having been on that tour, I would regret having not taken it. Really interesting history, and where else do you get to see an honest-to-goodness sunken city? I'd pay similar money (or more) to go on a (legal) tour of, say, disused NYC subway tunnels, a deactivated nuclear plant, an abandoned mine, a shipwreck, or Kowloon Walled City (when it existed). EDIT: Indeed, the Wieliczka salt mine (which, for me, was a similar experience to the Seattle underground) costs about $25 USD: http://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/visiting/tourist-route/visitor-s-guide/check-prices http://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/visiting/tourist-route/vis...
- __pThrow 13y ago
  please don't use lmgtfy
  - ryanthejuggler 13y ago
    I meant it humorously; I deliberately did not use lmgtfy's shortlink service so people would see what the link was before clicking on it.

scotth 13y ago

Looks like you missed this. Paragraph 7: > Some residents said they believe, or want to believe, that a piece of old Seattle, buried in the pell-mell rush of city-building in the 1800s, when a mucky waterfront wetland was filled in to make room for commerce, could be Bertha’s big trouble. That theory is bolstered by the fact that the blocked tunnel section is also in the shallowest portion of the route, with the top of the machine only around 45 feet below street grade.

incision 13y ago
>"Looks like you missed this." Or not. When I read this yesterday, knowing nothing of Seattle history I felt a lot like what the parent is expressing because of the quoted bit. The article spends 1200 words basically forcing speculation on "the object" (So ominous!) and casting a load of preemptive ("want to believe") doubt on an obvious explanation. It's the scripted "reality" TV analog for news - manufacturing suspense from the mundane. That said, I do hope "the object" is in fact an alien spacecraft.

ryanthejuggler 13y ago

I laughed when I saw the map. Compare [1] from the article with [2], which mostly corresponds to the location of the Seattle Underground. I went on the Underground tour earlier this year. It's really interesting and pretty funny too; after a large earthquake at one point they used the tunnels to hide a lot of the debris. I'd definitely recommend the tour; that said, I would definitely not want to be down there when something like this hits the wall! A big object blocks Bertha. What is it? http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Seattle+Underground http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Seattle+Underground [1] http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/12/20/us/20tunnel-graphic/20tunnel-graphic-popup.jpg http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/12/20/us/20tunnel-g... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Square,_Seattle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Square,_Seattle

arbuge 13y ago
We (my family, i.e.) personally found that tour rather short and significantly overpriced at $17 for about 75 minutes... in spite of that it was packed with tourists who paid extra for priority seating at the start of the tour (which isn't worth anything in practice). A real money spinner.
- pessimizer 13y ago
  Isn't that about the price of a movie + popcorn and drink these days?
- colanderman 13y ago
  Overpriced? Sure, but having been on that tour, I would regret having not taken it. Really interesting history, and where else do you get to see an honest-to-goodness sunken city? I'd pay similar money (or more) to go on a (legal) tour of, say, disused NYC subway tunnels, a deactivated nuclear plant, an abandoned mine, a shipwreck, or Kowloon Walled City (when it existed). EDIT: Indeed, the Wieliczka salt mine (which, for me, was a similar experience to the Seattle underground) costs about $25 USD: http://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/visiting/tourist-route/visitor-s-guide/check-prices http://www.wieliczka-saltmine.com/visiting/tourist-route/vis...
__pThrow 13y ago
please don't use lmgtfy
- ryanthejuggler 13y ago
  I meant it humorously; I deliberately did not use lmgtfy's shortlink service so people would see what the link was before clicking on it.