(The band is Mudhoney, lowercase “h”; the big underground drill is MudHoney, capital “H.”)
“Since the late ‘80s, Mudhoney, the Seattle-based foursome whose muck-crusted version of rock, shot through with caustic wit and battened down by a ferocious low end, has taken a stand against overflows into our waterways,” Seattle Public Utilities wrote.
The tunnel-boring machine is part of a $570 million, 11-year mega-project. Funding comes from the city (65 percent) and the county (35 percent) and ultimately, largely from your utility bills.
The machine arrived in pieces from its German manufacturer about six weeks ago. In the coming weeks, it will be lowered by crane, still in five pieces, into an 80-foot wide, 70-foot deep hole. Once lowered, the beast will be assembled — an earth-moving locomotive that will carry a 450-foot train and dig a tunnel 18-feet, 10-inches in diameter.
Currently, drainage basins in Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont and Wallingford overflow an average of about 144 times a year, the city said. Once the project — which is mandated by a federal consent decree that requires the county to reduce storm and wastewater pollution — is completed in 2025 (hopefully), overflows should drop to fewer than six per year, the city said.