Rosie the drill says ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to Portland

By: Daily Blog//December 3, 2010//

Rosie the drill says ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to Portland

Daily Blog//December 3, 2010//

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– world famous for her work digging along the – has waved a big, metal Twitter goodbye to Portland and is on her way home to Germany.

The machine was built by Herrenknecht (heron-connect) in Schwanau, Germany in 2006 and cost $12 million.

The East Side Big Pipe, which Rosie began working on in June 2007, was the first job for the 530 ton machine, but now that the tunneling is over she won’t retire, operators said.

Instead Rosie will be cleaned up, rebuilt and ready for her next gig, which has yet to be determined.

In her to Portland, she said: “The contractor’s scrapping my cutterhead and shipping my other sections back to Germany. Enjoy your cleaner Willamette River! Goodbye!”