Boston's Big Dig leaking like a sieve

July 2, 2007

The four-year-old $14.8 billion Big Dig in Boston is up to its old tricks of behaving like a 70-year-old tunnel. The problem this time around are leaks, which are up 18% over last year after Massachusetts officials pledged to reduce them to a trickle, according to the Boston Globe. Every months, the Big Dig pumps out 2 million gallons of water. In late 2004, the Globe reported that Bechtel officials said the leaks were "normal" and would take a few months to fix. The Globe’s story yesterday shows a partially flooded roadway in the tunnel whose 6-8 lanes wend there way under downtown Boston for about two miles. The leaks relevation comes just after lawyers for the family of the late Milena Del Valle rejected a settlement offer from a mediator representing 15 companies that design, managed and built the Big Dig, the largest highway project ever in U.S. Riding as a passenger, Del Valle was crushed by a suspended concrete ceiling panel that fell on car on the evening of July 10 last year. The project’s main contractor is Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff.

As for the leaks, they’ve been reduced from 3,500 to 800 since 2004, but in some cases, the grout patches keep re-opening. It’s amazing they can’t get this given that the project was projected to cost $2.85 billion in 1985.

Posted by John Dodge on July 2, 2007 | Comments (5)

Industries: Boston's Big Dig: A Materials Failure

January 16, 2008

In response to: Boston's Big Dig leaking like a sieve
ojequ commented:

the-dance-last.html ">Book

January 8, 2008

In response to: Boston's Big Dig leaking like a sieve
twrim commented:

000.html ">No credit check loan 10

January 5, 2008

In response to: Boston's Big Dig leaking like a sieve
dijlj commented:

fl-car-golf.html ">Accessories

December 30, 2007

In response to: Boston's Big Dig leaking like a sieve
nseul commented:

internet-seo.html ">Marketing ny

December 28, 2007

In response to: Boston's Big Dig leaking like a sieve
hurmr commented:

to-pool-yahoo.html ">Backdoor

Design News Partner Zones

CAD/CAE Model Clean-Up: Reduce Iterative Cycles
This webinar featured research and survey results related to problems associated with preparing CAD geometry for CAE applications. We discussed how Recipe-Based Automation can help create "just-in-time" CAE-ready geometry each time a cad model is updated. Watch the Presentation

Light Matters: Systems Level Approach to HBLED illumination applications
Its good practice to apply a systems-level approach to high-brightness LED (HBLED) illumination applications. Minimally, the system includes the optical, thermal and electrical characteristics of the of the HBLED, the lens (if any) which is built-in to its package, secondary optics such as external plastic lenses/reflectors to direct the light as your application requires and power driver electronics. Read More

Design Engineers' Portal for Sensing and Machine Safety
Whatever industry you're in, or whatever product you manufacture, the right sensors to automate your plant, and to improve your overall efficiency, quality and safety are a must. You'll find Banner Engineering to be an amazing resource of products, training and people with expertise.