For the James W. Fowler Co. of Dallas, Ore., using a vertical shaft machine made by Germany’s Herrenknecht for a 145-foot-deep, 30-foot-diameter launching portal as part of a $32 million sewer upgrade project in Seattle – the first time the technology has been used in the U.S. – was a matter of necessity.
Michael McMillan, Fowler project manager, says his firm started discussions with Herrenknecht, —a company with whom Fowler already had a relationship after King County delayed the award of the contract to Fowler by a year and six months.
That cost Fowler its slurry-wall subcontractor because that company couldn’t hold onto its original price.With the vertical shaft machine, Fowler met its requirements.
