Woman killed in (Boston) Big Dig tunnel accident

[MaineDem]

BOSTON --A woman was killed when part of the ceiling in a Big Dig tunnel fell on a car in South Boston, and a man believed to be the driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, authorities said.

The $14 billion Big Dig highway project, which buried Interstate 93 beneath downtown and extended the Massachusetts Turnpike to Logan Airport, has been criticized for construction problems and cost overruns that state officials have said did not compromise safety.

State Police Trooper Kara England said the tunnel was shut down until state safety engineers could assess its condition after the 11 p.m. incident. Authorities later also closed the connector's westbound side.

Shortly after the accident, at least three large pieces of debris, tilted slightly at one side, could be seen lying across a lane of the roadway about 100 feet from the end of the connector tunnel. The site is near the entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel, which goes under Boston Harbor to the airport.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/07/11/woman_killed_in_boston_tunnel_accident/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News

[Kagemusha]

1. That's about the last thing they were hoping for I think.

Because how can you definitively say that only one part of a ceiling was weak?

[Tesha]

7. You go through an X-Ray every tie rod

It was one of the steel "tie rods" that has something to do
with hanging the 6,000 pound concrete ceiling panels. So now
you go through and inspect every tie (with dye, ultrasound,
or X-Rays) to catch other failing ties, figure out why they're
failing (corrosion, almost no doubt, gievn the installed age),
and then change them out for the redesigned stainless steel
ties that they probably should have been in the first place.
(But hey, $14.7 billion just doesn't go as far as it used
to, you know? Especially with MoCo's markups and expenses
for right-wing, anti-government bumper stickers.)

But as the next reply says, how do you ever restore people's
confidence? That's a job for sociologists, not engineers.

Tesha

[Veronica.Franco]

20. THIS WAS THE FAULT OF THE MATERIAL SUPPLIER ... not the contractors

Boston's Central Artery and Third Harbor Tunnel Project (CA/T), unofficially known as the Big Dig, plagued by cost overruns and reports of shoddy workmanship, has been hit with yet another scandal as six employees of its primary concrete supplier have been indicted for falsifying records regarding allegedly inferior concrete supplied to the massive highway construction project.

Indicted were: former general manager Robert Prosperi, 63, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts; Marc Blais, 36, of Lynn, Massachusetts, a dispatch manager; John Farrar, 42, of Canterbury, Connecticut, a dispatch manager; Gerard McNally, 53, of Rockland, Massachusetts, a quality control manager; Gregory Stevenson, 53, of Furlong, Pennsylvania, district operations manager; and Keith Thomas, 50, of Billerica, Massachusetts, a dispatch manager. Stevenson and Farrar are no longer with the company. Aggregate says it has suspended the others.

[Kagemusha]

21. I explicitly avoided blaming the contractors.

Though, a material supplier is a contractor of one sort anyway, if you want to get really technical.

[Veronica.Franco]

24. Material suppliers such as this one are very dangerous ...

As a subcontractor who has been in this business for many years ... I can share that material suppliers do NOT sign contracts ... they do NOT submit certificate's of insurance ... and they are paid 100% on a monthly basis ... they usually have ZERO risk compared to contractors ... Why the little bit of money this material supplier would have gained on this project made them risk such a catastrophe is beyond reason? ... BUT, if I were the local public entity I would CORE ever job this material supplier has participated in ... This is NOT the first time they did this ... they will find that this is how these disgusting people do business ... very sad ... My GUESS is this was NOT 6 sack concrete ... they submitted to the architect and had approved the ONE mix design that met the specs AND then what they sent to the jobsite was something less expensive ...

[Kagemusha]

27. Absolutely agreed they're very dangerous.

Did not know about the not signing contracts thing but I guess it makes sense, it's just buying a product.. but providing a product that's not what was purchased, most certainly does create legal liability... the risk should be a lot more than zero for violating basic business protocol which is, put bluntly, supplying what you've been paid for...

[Veronica.Franco]

32. Material suppiers must have their product approved by the architect ...

Whether it is rebar, concrete mix, cure, or wire mesh ... any building material ... there is a submittal that is approved and stamped by the architect on the project ... the inspector on the site is then supposed to make sure that same approved material is used on site ... somehow these creatures got away with using sub-standard materials ... so either they forged the mix design documents and then delivered a different weaker product OR the inspector looked the other way ... probably both ... and obviously they did NOT core the job as it was in progress to make certain the materials were adequate ... I'd say they paid off a couple public works inspectors to pull this one off ... total corruption ...

[Kagemusha]

22. Well, that's a good and, rather complete answer

Certainly X-raying every tie rod is a start to restoring the confidence.

The problem is when X-raying finds new problems, which is a direct attack on that confidence...

[Eugene]

14. They can't say. 1% of Big Dig concrete may be bad.

Big Dig probe expanding
6 managers at concrete firm facing fraud charges

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/05/big_dig_probe_expanding

The roof is leaking is many places and the tunnels will need
constant maintenence for decades to come. Until now,
officials have assured us that the Big Dig is perfectly safe
despite the leaks and the debris falls.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

35. 1% may be accurate, but the damned thing is long.

would YOU risk driving under that 1%?
not to mention the tunnel continues to have major leaking problems. And with leaks, automatically comes water. And with water, corrosion. And with corrosion, yikes.

[chelsea0011]

2. No one will believe that the tunnel is ever going to be safe now.

When the leaks were filling the tunnel with water, we were told "don't worry, the tunnel is safe". Now the roof caves in. There are some serious structure problems with the tunnel that will cost $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to fix.

[TheCowsCameHome]

26. Stock management line - It's safe until the next awful mishap occurs.

[newblewtoo]

3. You get what you pay for.....

or not. I once went through the Ted Williams tunnel by mistake and once through the BIG DIG. Never again. Check the link to see your tax dollars at work.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3769829

http://www.masspike.com/bigdig/index.html

Anyone else miss Proxmire and the Fleecing of America ?

[chelsea0011]

30. 800 Bizillion dollars doesn't get much these days

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. 8am and already RW asswipes on talk radio blaming unions and Dems.

Two Cape Cod little league Rush wannabes blaming the collapse on unions and democrats for the ceiling panel failure.

Duh.

[MaineDem]

5. Yep, I was reading the same things on right-leaning website.

I need a shower now.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

6. both little drunken idiots!

[Tesha]

8. That's pretty funny given that MoCo, the main contractor...

> 8am and already RW asswipes on talk radio blaming unions and Dems.

That's pretty funny given that Modern Continental, the
main Big Dig contractor, is about as Republucan as you
can get. *MANY* of the company pick-up trucks driven
around the project still have anti-government, anti-Kerry
bumper stickers on them from the 2004 election.

That's especially ironic when you consider that MoCo
is one of those companies (like Cheney's Halliburton)
that wouldn't exist if they didn't have the government
teat to suckle upon. But yeah, go ahead and bash gover-
nment while it enrichens you; typical Republican behavior.

Tesha

[AX10]

15. Are those stickers on the trucks because of the workers...

or the corporate bosses? Also, this company would not exist without Democrats such as Tip O'Neill.

[Tesha]

16. Probably both.

I can't imagine the stickers would stay stuck to the truck
if either half of the deal disagreed. Management could
easily order them off (and make *THAT* stick) and the
workers could find that the stickers just don't stay
stuck on in the harsh construction environment.

Tesha

[wicket]

9. I'm surprised they waited until the corpse was moved

What sick fucks, they are so shameless they will use any tragedy to advance their agenda.

[MissMillie]

10. right, it's the union's fault that the contractors

skimped on materials, wasted money and cut corners.... :sarcasm:

[LiberalEsto]

11. Is it Clinton's fault again?

How convenient it is for them to have such a handy scapegoat for all the problems of the world.

[KansDem]

18. Yeah, after all "Big Dig" and "Big Dog" only have one letter different...

So little taxing of the mind...perfect for the right wingers...

[MallRat]

17. Which governors have overseen the Big Dig construction?

Construction began in 1991.

1991-1997: William Weld (R)
1997-2001: Paul Cellucci (R)
2001-2003: Jane Swift (R)
2003-2006: Mitt Romney (R)

The lead contractor on the Big Dig? Republican sugar-daddy Bechtel Corporation.

The company responsible for falsifying records and using substandard concrete, leading to the indictment of six employees? Aggregate Industries, a major contributor to Mitt Romney's 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

But it's all the Democrats' fault, right? :eyes:

-MR

[TheCowsCameHome]

25. Picky, picky, picky. *snicker*

Very good points. Quite a talent show, wasn't it?

[MadHound]

12. I've never seen the Big Dig in person

But from my view out west, my opinion is that you folks in Boston should just shut the damn thing down, fill it in, and be done with it. It has grossly overrun its budget, has shoddy workmanship, which is now potentially lethal, and is nowhere near complete. It just seems like you folks are throwing good money after bad, with no hope of return.

Just my humble opinion.

[Tesha]

13. Actually, it's mostly complete.

The major construction is all done and the roadways are
all open (well, when they aren't flooded or have ceiling
panels crashing down on them).

All that's left now down below ground is plugging leaks,
awarding a lucrative contract to the cell phone relay
provider, and (now) fixing the ceiling system.

Above ground, there's a lot of landscaping still being done.

Is it making a difference to Boston traffic? Yes, it's moved
the backups out of the city and into the neighboring communities.
And it's made getting to/from Logan from "Metrowest" *A LOT*
easier. Was it worth $14.7 billion? Not a chance. We could
have built TGV-class railroads from every suburb in the area
for that kind of money. But it made a lot of money for a
large number of contractors and a shitload of money for a
few.

Tesha

[humbled_opinion]

19. and mine as well ..

[killbotfactory]

33. Contractors made a lot of money with cost-overruns

Why build something right the first-time, when you can keep rebuilding it until the end of time? Only a niave and stupid company would have built it right. Free-Market Capitalism at it's finest.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

36. ah, obviously you have experienced Chicago highway construction, eh?

I was driving 110 mph on the autobahn heading to a world cup game, when I chanced upon a construction zone. Very educational. a layer of clay, then, sand, fine agg, rough ag, sand, asphalt, sand, more agg, and about 18 inches of rebarred concrete. And not one pot hole after 2000 km of driving, even with many large trucks on the road. Remember, German weather is a lot like chicago's - cold winters, hot summers, rain, ice, heat, repeat.


Chicago highways fall apart the minute they are reconstructed. Those living on the south side suburbs have the dubious pleasure of driving through 20 miles of construction. our approach? sand, rough agg, 12 inches of concrete. And did I mention potholes?

I have no interest in driving the Big Dig, not with Bechtel as the major contractor. The profits come first, last and middle. Quality? if you are lucky.

[AngryAmish]

23. Boston - You have soiled your own nest

By allowing the corruption that went on and reelecting the crooks that let it happen (get new Dems who aren't in bed with the crooks) the blame for this one ultimately rests with the taxpayers.

No more money for anything until you fix your problem.

Fix it, now.

[brooklynite]

28. UPDATE: Romney seeks turnpike official's ouster

BOSTON - Authorities were inspecting large stretches of the city's Big Dig tunnel system Tuesday after 12 tons of concrete fell on a car carrying newlyweds, killing the woman. The governor blamed the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and said he was taking steps to fire its leader.

"People should not have to drive through the Turnpike tunnels with their fingers crossed," Gov. Mitt Romney said Tuesday. "Neither I nor anyone else could be or should be satisfied until we have new leadership at the Turnpike authority."

...snip...

The Turnpike Authority is an independent agency largely outside of the control of the governor, and Romney has repeatedly called for Amorello to step down. Amorello has refused; his aides did not immediately return calls Tuesday to respond to the governor's threat to take legal action to oust him.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_on_re_us/big_dig_death_14

[Eugene]

29. The turnpike is not completely independent from the governor.

The article does not mention how the previous Repub governor
packed the Turnpike Authority board with her stooges.
Romney ran for governor promising to clean house on the Pike
and the Big Dig. He waited 3 1/2 years to make it a priority.

Cleaning up the mismanagement on the Big Dig and booting
the Turnpike chief means a fight with the Legislature.
He can't very well do that while he is running around the
country campaigning for president.

[newscott]

34. Turnpike equals FEMA.

The turnpike authority is filled with unqualified people and zero oversight. From the top down it's just a pig troth for connecteds and relatives. Same thing happened at Massport on 9/11. Does anyone remember Ginny Buckingham?

[billyoc]

31. New season of "Survivor,

Central Artery Project". :evilgrin:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

37. Reuters reports that they will investigate the contractors and suppliers

anyone want to bet that somehow the critical docs turn up missing?