Steve Columbus, Administrative Manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local Union #66 Training Center in New Alexandria, Pa., has spent the past 20 years operating and helping to train apprentices and journeymen on heavy equipment.

From 100 ton bulldozers to cranes with 300-foot booms, Steve and the union’s team of instructors are familiar with every piece of equipment used to move dirt, steel, concrete or any other material known to man. Well, just about every piece.

Last November, a $10 million machine weighing approximately 500 tons was lowered into a pit on the City of Pittsburgh’s North Shore. Like some cranes and other pieces of heavy equipment, the machine had to be assembled on site. Unlike most, however, it had to be shipped from Europe to Baltimore and then trucked to Pittsburgh.

Manufactured by Herrenknecht A.G. in Germany, the 22-foot diameter machine is being used to bore twin tunnels under the Allegheny River as part of the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s North Shore Connector Project. It is being operated by a team of four skilled professionals, two of whom are specially trained members of Local 66, including Rebecca Vettorel, the first woman to ever operate a boring machine of this size in the United States.

“This is one more very large piece of equipment that Local 66 members can add to their repertoire as part of their involvement in helping construct some of Pittsburgh’s and Western Pennsylvania’s largest and most complex construction projects,” said James Kunz, I.U.O.E Local 66 Business Manager. “Working on this project and gaining experience in the use of such unique tunnel boring has been both challenging and rewarding for our members and organization.”

The tunnel boring contract is being performed under a $156.5 million contracted awarded to North Shore Connectors, a joint venture of Trumbull Corporation of West Mifflin and Obayashi Corporation of San Francisco. Under the contract, two 2,400-foot tunnels are being bored under the Allegheny River to connect the Port Authority’s existing light rail transit system at Gateway Center with a new alignment that will serve various destinations on the North Shore, including PNC Park, Heinz Field, the Carnegie Science Center, CCAC, and the new Majestic Star casino, among others.

“This is one of the largest projects ever undertaken by Trumbull,” said John Murray, Construction Manager for Trumbull Corporation. “This was a great opportunity for us to partner with Obayashi given our extensive experience in heavy highway construction and its experience in tunneling. We are not only excited about this project, but also about the prospect for future development in the area that will result from it.”

A ten-year veteran of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local #66, Ms. Vettorel began being trained on the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in November. It has been an experience she will never forget.

Rebecca Vettorel of McDonald stands in front of the $10 million boring machine on the North Shore Connector Project.

“I was honored and humbled when I was selected to operate the machine,” Ms. Vettorel said. “It’s been very challenging and much different from operating other pieces of heavy equipment.

Unlike rollers, compactors, bulldozers and other pieces of equipment that I have operated in my career, you can’t see what’s in front of you in the tunnel. I’m used to being out in the open and able to see what I’m working on. With this machine, you are operating in a very confined area and relying heavily on computers to guide you. It takes a lot of patience and understanding of the work involved to operate it effectively.”

The TBM excavates approximately 20 to 40 feet per day. It utilizes a large rotating cutting wheel to cut through rock and soil approximately 20 feet below the river bed. Electric motors drive the cutting head while hydraulic forces move the TBM forward. Movement of the machine has been compared to that of an earthworm, which braces itself against the sides of a tunnel and propels itself forward. At maximum extension, the head of the TBM is braced against the tunnel walls and the rear of the TBM is dragged forward. The excavated soil and rock is then transported out of the freshly cut tunnel and carried away by truck.

When completed the tunnel will surface on the North Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field where the rail system will continue on an elevated structure to its destination near the Carnegie Science Center and Allegheny Avenue.

The $435 million project is scheduled for completion in 2011. It is being funded 80% by the Federal Transit Administration, 16 2/3% by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and 3 1/3% by Allegheny County. The North Shore Connector is projected to serve more than 14,000 riders each weekday.

It is one more project and one very large piece of equipment that can be added to Local 66’s resumé and to the impressive list of facilities built by union affiliated contractors and building tradespersons.