Boston is officially incompetent

[MKSheppard]

Linky

Workers clear water from the tunnel in the northbound lanes of Interstate 93 in Boston. (AP)

BOSTON - As early as 1999, contractors on the costliest highway project in U.S. history knew that serious construction flaws existed in the walls of the tunnels directing traffic under downtown Boston, according to documents cited by project officials.

Barely a year after the famed Big Dig opened to motorists in one of the nation's most congested highway systems, and two months after a leak sent water pouring into one of the tunnels - officials say the system is riddled with hundreds of leaks that could take a decade to find and repair.

``This was done incorrectly,'' Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
Chairman Matthew Amorello said Wednesday. ``It is simply
unacceptable.''

The latest bad news comes from a commission formed to investigate a September leak, in which a wall panel in the $14.6 billion highway project sprung an eight-inch hole, flooding the northbound Interstate 93 tunnel and causing a 10-mile backup.

Big Dig officials say field notes from 1999 reveal that contractors knew then of serious flaws in the construction of the panel.

Those notes showed workers had trouble placing metal bars at the bottom of a 120-foot deep section and later had difficulty pouring the concrete needed to create the panel in what would become the underground northbound lanes of I-93, which cuts through Boston.

An engineering consultant hired by the Turnpike Authority said the most likely culprit was foreign material that got mixed in with the concrete and washed away over time, creating the breach.

George Tamaro, the consultant, said there was some patching of the problem at the time of construction, but the patch didn't hold.

He said part of the problem is that the panel was next to another panel poured by a different contractor and that some material overflowed. The panel that produced the leak was poured by Modern Continental, the largest contractor on the project, which he said failed to remove the extra material.

Amorello said it would cost about $250,000 to fix the panel, with construction taking place at night to minimize disruption from lane closures. He said any costs would be paid by Modern Continental or Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the private consortium that managed the project.

Meanwhile, Big Dig officials also said Wednesday that they are continuing to find and plug hundreds of smaller leaks in the tunnel. They said those leaks are not unexpected and are different from the September breach.

Both Big Dig officials and the construction firms maintained that the tunnel remains safe and structurally sound.

Amorello said he didn't know how much water was entering the tunnel system as a result of the smaller leaks but said waterproofing teams charged with finding and plugging the leaks were included in project's budget.

Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

``In a tunnel of this construction type, seepage is inevitable, but is mitigated by proper engineering and maintenance programs, which have been planned for and are in place,'' the company said in a statement.

``The tunnel is structurally sound.''

Modern Continental also defended its work.

``The results of the investigation will conclude that Modern's workmanship was in accordance with contract plans and specifications,'' it said.

But Jordan Levy, vice-chairman of the Turnpike Authority board, said Bechtel and Modern are clearly at fault.

``The taxpayers of this commonwealth will not pay one dime, not one penny extra for any of the failures by any of the contractors,'' he said.

The September leak was the latest in a series of embarrassing episodes in the two-decade construction of the Big Dig, formally called the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel project.

In January, ice formed in the tunnels, forcing officials to close lanes and jamming up traffic. And in 2001, a leak spouted from under one of six concrete tubes being put in place to carry Interstate 90 through the Fort Point Channel.

Gov. Mitt Romney [related, bio] said it was further evidence that the Turnpike Authority, an independent authority, should have greater oversight by state officials.

``Somebody obviously messed up big time,'' he said. ``And that's just one more example of a long list of blunders related to the Big Dig.''

Amorello said $4 million has already been recovered from contractors who overcharged the project. He said that cost recovery effort will continue and the project has filed 11 lawsuits against contractors for shoddy design and work in the past year.

Retired judge Edward M. Ginsburg, leader of a state-appointed team reviewing overcharges by Big Dig contractors, said he has spoken to Attorney General Tom Reilly about filing a lawsuit against Bechtel and Modern Continental.

Reilly declined to speculate on whether the situation could lead to criminal charges.

The Big Dig replaced the elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 with underground tunnels through downtown Boston. It also connected Interstate 90 - the Massachusetts Turnpike - to Logan International Airport, and added the Ted Williams Tunnel beneath Boston Harbor.

( © Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )

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Can we just backfill the piece of shit and charge the Massachusetts government for the Federal money they have wasted on this for
two decades?

[Saurencaerthai]

Typical Massachusetts civil engineering. The same type of people that go "This four way intersection is too simple; lets make it a 7 way!"

[Sea Skimmer]

Boston became officially incompetent much earlier in this program, probably around the first time the worksite flooded.

[RedImperator]

The mistake was jamming I-93 through downtown Boston in the first place. The Big Dig is a good idea, poorly executed. Though it should be noted that any time you try to put an interstate highway underground, in the middle of the densest part of one of the oldest cities in America, WITHOUT disrupting the existing highway still in use, the surface roads, the subways, the utilities OR the building foundations around it, there are going to be problems.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Please tell me heads are going to roll over this

[Admiral Valdemar]

Sounds like the US has their own M25 now.

[MKSheppard]

Sounds like the US has their own M25 now.

M25?

[Admiral Valdemar]

M25?

M25.

I heard one guy got stuck on it for a month.

"Many phenomena - wars, plagues, sudden audits - have been advanced as evidence for the hidden hand of Satan in the affairs of Man, but whenever students of demonology get together the M25 London orbital motorway is generally agreed to be among the top contenders for exhibit A." -- from Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

[MKSheppard]

The M25 sounds like the Washington Beltway.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I'm glad I don't have to commute to work or anything. Using something like that at rush hour would be hell. They should build more toll roads. Those things are always clear and no lorries (sorry, trucks) either since they'd have to pay more, heh.

[Col. Crackpot]

This clusterfuck has lasted entire careers. Mike Du-cockhead unveiled this turd in 1978. Yes that's right, some of the engineers have been working on this project for 26 years!! And it's not even nice inside the tunnels. The road is bumpy and the wall tiles, color scheme and lights are retro 80's style.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Eh, I guess even the M25 got completed in the end. Yes, this is indeed a clusterfuck of a project.

[HemlockGrey]

Hah! We no longer need to be ashamed of the Schykill Expressway. It has been surpassed in fucked-upptitude!

[Col. Crackpot]

the 'best' part of the Big Dig is that Ted Kennedy managed to shove the bulk of the cost down the throats of people who will never, ever use I-93. You have to love pork laden federal transportation projects!