ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES
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A worker on the tunnel boring machine gives a thumbs up after crawling through the cutter head of the machine into the sunlight after the TBM breaks through the east side of the hill near Rainier Avenue S. and S. McClellan St. The machine drilling two Link light rail tunnels from the west to the east through Beacon Hill in Seattle broke through the east side of the hill Monday morning from the tunnel it excavated -- a total of 4,338 feet. Light rail construction is approximately 70 percent complete and on schedule to start service in 2009 between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport. The second tunnel is expected to be finished by late December. (5/8/07)