Massive digging machine to aid Crenshaw/LAX light rail project

CRENSHAW, Calif. (KABC) -- Metro officials brought in a giant tunnel-boring machine on Monday to help complete the Crenshaw/LAX Transit Project.

The strong winds derailed plans to lower the machine into the ground and utilize it, but Metro officials said the rest of the light rail plan is on track to be finished a little more than three years from now.

More than a mile of the Crenshaw/LAX line will run about 45 feet underground - that's where the tunnel-boring machine come in.

The cutter head of the machine spans approximately 22 feet in diameter. When the whole machine is put together, it will be longer than a football field and weigh 950 tons.

And on this first day of Black History Month, officials christened the tunneling machine Harriet after Harriet Tubman.

Watch Rob Hayes' report above to learn more about Metro's project.