Thanks to the generosity of @axisworks, I and Eric Fischer got a tour of Mom Chung, the Tunnel Boring Machine that will be digging its way towards Chinatown (and hopefully beyond).
I looked extremely badass official wearing my yellow vest and hardhat — I am pretty sure I could have wrested control of the TBM and dug my own path, but I figure its best to wait until they try to stop in North Beach.
The opening festivities included Mayor Ed Lee sporting his new handlebar moustache.
And a rather delicious cake.
“The Box” is an extraordinarily big hole along 4th between Bryant and Harrison. They used the big red crane to drop Mom Chung in to do her work.
Here’s the ramp that the humans use…
…which leads to a dramatically lit long tunnel.
The ethereal glow is from welding.
Dear SF Muni: I wrote some instructions on the side of Mom Chung. (These should not be a surprise to frequent readers.)
Gratuitous panoramas:
The Box:
Mom Chung’s cutting head is ready to go:
Gratuitous welding GIF:
Eric Fischer took some pictures with a real camera, including me in mid-slogan:
While the Wang Chung reference is inevitable, Mom Chung (and Big Alma) kicked some serious ass. The TBM are well named.
This being San Francisco, you should not be surprised that both TBMs are on Twitter and are anthropomorphically active.