boutons
11-19-2004, 06:17 PM
Think San Antonio roads are crappy?
Read this:
Big Dig Tunnel Is Riddled With Leaks
November 19, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:05 p.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- The Big Dig is a Big Sieve. In a burgeoning
political and engineering scandal, Boston's gleaming new
underground Interstate 93 highway is riddled with hundreds
of leaks. And the builders may have known about serious
flaws in the $14.6 billion project as early as 1997.
The disclosures add to a long list of woes for the colossal
highway, bridge and tunnel combination, already the most
expensive road project in U.S. history. The Big Dig --
formally the Central Artery project -- opened five years
late and billions of dollars over cost and has been plagued
by allegations of waste and mismanagement.
Massachusetts' attorney general is looking into the case,
and Gov. Mitt Romney has called on the head of the
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to resign.
``Somebody obviously messed up big-time,'' Romney said last
week. ``And that's just one more example of a long list of
blunders related to the Big Dig.''
Transportation officials have given repeated assurances
that the underground highway is structurally sound. But
some drivers are steering clear of the tunnel.
``I'd been worrying about it. If there was any chance of
the wall caving in, it would be like that movie `Daylight'
with Sylvester Stallone,'' said 39-year-old house painter
Peter Carroll, referring to the action movie about
motorists trapped in a flooded tunnel.
The first sign of trouble came when a wall deep underground
sprang a leak in mid-September, sending water pouring into
the tunnel and creating a 10-mile rush-hour traffic jam.
Investigators found dirt and other debris had become
trapped in the wall during a botched concrete pouring job
in 1999. Over time, the debris washed away, sending ground
water and dirt through the hole.
It turned out to be a drop in the bucket.
Closer
investigation of additional panels in the tunnel have
turned up four other wall panels with defects that could
cause holes. One of those panels has the same kind of
defect, although on a smaller scale, as the one that sprang
a leak.
To make matters worse, project officials have conceded they
are struggling to plug 400 or 500 smaller leaks in the
tunnel.
Over the past week or so, memos and reports have dribbled
out showing that Turnpike officials and the project's
manager, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, were aware of the
leak problem for years. One report by the state auditor and
inspector general found Big Dig officials were warned as
long ago as 1997 about the potential for widespread
leakage.
Fixing the leaks could take years, cost untold millions and
lead to the closing of some lanes of traffic, at least at
night.
Project officials said some leaks are to be expected in a
tunnel as large and complex as the Big Dig, especially
during the final stages of construction. The project will
not be finished until next September, and the roof has yet
to be completed on some portions of the tunnel.
But they said the big leak that opened up in September and
the defects found in other walls are clearly the fault of
contractors.
The contractors have defended their work but said they are
ready to cooperate with the Turnpike Authority to come up
with a solution. Bechtel spokesman Andy Paven said the
company is inspecting the tunnel walls and reviewing all
records to get to the bottom of the problem.
Matthew Amorello, whose predecessor as chairman of the
Turnpike Authority was ousted for failing to report the
rising cost of the project in the late 1990s, has refused
to resign, and assured the public: ``There is no way that I
or the Turnpike Authority or the engineers who work on the
project would ever allow citizens to use an unsafe highway
network.''
The Big Dig project has transformed Boston: The old,
hulking elevated Central Artery was demolished, and the
highway was submerged underground.
The furor is clouding what Turnpike officials had hoped
would be heady days for the Big Dig, which also includes
the new Ted Williams Tunnel under Boston Harbor and the
Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge -- with its futuristic
web of suspension cables -- over the Charles River.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Big-Dig-Leaks.html?ex=1101903246&ei=1&en=203c2ad8e3dffb3f
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Read this:
Big Dig Tunnel Is Riddled With Leaks
November 19, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:05 p.m. ET
BOSTON (AP) -- The Big Dig is a Big Sieve. In a burgeoning
political and engineering scandal, Boston's gleaming new
underground Interstate 93 highway is riddled with hundreds
of leaks. And the builders may have known about serious
flaws in the $14.6 billion project as early as 1997.
The disclosures add to a long list of woes for the colossal
highway, bridge and tunnel combination, already the most
expensive road project in U.S. history. The Big Dig --
formally the Central Artery project -- opened five years
late and billions of dollars over cost and has been plagued
by allegations of waste and mismanagement.
Massachusetts' attorney general is looking into the case,
and Gov. Mitt Romney has called on the head of the
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to resign.
``Somebody obviously messed up big-time,'' Romney said last
week. ``And that's just one more example of a long list of
blunders related to the Big Dig.''
Transportation officials have given repeated assurances
that the underground highway is structurally sound. But
some drivers are steering clear of the tunnel.
``I'd been worrying about it. If there was any chance of
the wall caving in, it would be like that movie `Daylight'
with Sylvester Stallone,'' said 39-year-old house painter
Peter Carroll, referring to the action movie about
motorists trapped in a flooded tunnel.
The first sign of trouble came when a wall deep underground
sprang a leak in mid-September, sending water pouring into
the tunnel and creating a 10-mile rush-hour traffic jam.
Investigators found dirt and other debris had become
trapped in the wall during a botched concrete pouring job
in 1999. Over time, the debris washed away, sending ground
water and dirt through the hole.
It turned out to be a drop in the bucket.
Closer
investigation of additional panels in the tunnel have
turned up four other wall panels with defects that could
cause holes. One of those panels has the same kind of
defect, although on a smaller scale, as the one that sprang
a leak.
To make matters worse, project officials have conceded they
are struggling to plug 400 or 500 smaller leaks in the
tunnel.
Over the past week or so, memos and reports have dribbled
out showing that Turnpike officials and the project's
manager, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, were aware of the
leak problem for years. One report by the state auditor and
inspector general found Big Dig officials were warned as
long ago as 1997 about the potential for widespread
leakage.
Fixing the leaks could take years, cost untold millions and
lead to the closing of some lanes of traffic, at least at
night.
Project officials said some leaks are to be expected in a
tunnel as large and complex as the Big Dig, especially
during the final stages of construction. The project will
not be finished until next September, and the roof has yet
to be completed on some portions of the tunnel.
But they said the big leak that opened up in September and
the defects found in other walls are clearly the fault of
contractors.
The contractors have defended their work but said they are
ready to cooperate with the Turnpike Authority to come up
with a solution. Bechtel spokesman Andy Paven said the
company is inspecting the tunnel walls and reviewing all
records to get to the bottom of the problem.
Matthew Amorello, whose predecessor as chairman of the
Turnpike Authority was ousted for failing to report the
rising cost of the project in the late 1990s, has refused
to resign, and assured the public: ``There is no way that I
or the Turnpike Authority or the engineers who work on the
project would ever allow citizens to use an unsafe highway
network.''
The Big Dig project has transformed Boston: The old,
hulking elevated Central Artery was demolished, and the
highway was submerged underground.
The furor is clouding what Turnpike officials had hoped
would be heady days for the Big Dig, which also includes
the new Ted Williams Tunnel under Boston Harbor and the
Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge -- with its futuristic
web of suspension cables -- over the Charles River.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Big-Dig-Leaks.html?ex=1101903246&ei=1&en=203c2ad8e3dffb3f
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company