Talking Points

Straight talk about today\'s headlines and how they affect the engineering community.

$28 Million Settlement Reached in Death of Woman Killed in Big Dig Collapse

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on October 1, 2008

Read more on the Big Dig materials failure and see appalling aftermath photos and diagrams at Design News’ Big Dig coverage page. The family of a woman killed two years ago when the car she was riding in was crushed as a portion of a ceiling collapsed inside a Big Dig tunnel settled a wrongful death suit for more than $28 million last night. In July 2006, 39-year-old Milena Del Valle was ki ...... Read More

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New Report on U.S. Bridges Released as I-35 Bridge Collapse Anniversary Approaches

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on July 29, 2008

Nearly one year to the date of last year’s I-35 Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis, a report released yesterday says at least one in four U.S. bridges needs repairs and at least $140 billion is needed to make them. According to the report, 152,000 of the country’s 600,000 bridges are either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The report says the five main problems facing the ...... Read More

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Industries: Engineering for Disaster after Hurricane Katrina , Materials Innovations from K 2007 , Minneapolis Interstate 35 Bridge Collapse

Firm Recommends Installing 900 New Support Anchors in Big Dig Tunnel

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on April 14, 2008

The Boston Globe is reporting today that an engineering firm is recommending the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority install about 900 new support anchors in the Ted Williams Tunnel. This is the same firm that was hired to inspect all Boston Big Dig tunnels following the July 2006 Boston Big Dig tunnel collapse that killed a 38-year-old woman when the car she was riding in was crushed by falling ceil ...... Read More

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Criminal Charges Avoided: Big Dig Contractors' Settlement Tops $458 Million

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on January 23, 2008

The firms responsible for designing and managing Boston’s Big Dig project reached a $458 million settlement with state and federal officials today. The settlement will allow these companies to avoid criminal charges in the 2006 fatal tunnel collapse and any civil liabilities with infrastructure problems. The settlement and terms were announced this afternoon at a press conference with U.S. ...... Read More

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Firms Expected to Reach $450 Million Settlement in Big Dig Disaster

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on January 23, 2008

Today could be the day the firms responsible for managing and designing Boston’s Big Dig will reach a settlement with Boston authorities. The settlement is said to be about $450 million. The settlement is part of several legal battles over the Big Dig project, which not only claimed the life of a 38-year-old woman in 2006 when a portion of the ceiling collapsed and crushed the car sh ...... Read More

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Big Dig Epoxy Provider Powers Fasteners Close to Settling Lawsuit

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on December 12, 2007

The Boston Globe is reporting this morning that Big Dig epoxy provider Powers Fasteners is about to settle a civil suit filed by the family of a woman killed in 2006. Milena Del Valle was killed in July 2006 when a portion of Boston’s Big Dig Interstate-90 connector tunnel ceiling collapsed and crushed the car she was riding in with her husband. According to the Boston.com ...... Read More

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Singapore Airlines' Historic First Commercial Flight of the Airbus A380

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on October 25, 2007

After long delays, the Airbus A380 completed its first commercial flight today. The world’s largest passenger jet flew from Singapore to Sydney – on its first commercial flight through Singapore Airlines. Airbus delivered the A380 last week. The maiden flight included 455 passengers and a crew of 30, including pilots. The entire flight lasted seven hours. The double-decker Airbus A38 ...... Read More

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Cracks Found in Support Beam of Boston’s Tobin Bridge

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on October 13, 2007

Cracks in a support beam of Boston’s Tobin Bridge have officials scrambling to find a fix. In the meantime, all vehicles over 10,000 lb, including commercial trucks and buses, are banned from traveling over the structure, according to Massachusetts Port Authority officials at a press conference late Friday afternoon. Several cracks were found in one of the support beams of the structur ...... Read More

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Mattel Issues Third Recall of Toys with Excessive Amounts of Lead Paint

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on September 5, 2007

Late yesterday, Mattel Inc. announced it was recalling more than 700,000 more toys made in China that have excessive amounts of lead paint. According to the Associated Press, the recall covers 675,000 units of Barbie accessory toys manufactured between Sept. 30, 2006 and Aug. 20, 2007. The recall also involves 90,000 units of Geo Trax Locomotive Toys and 8,900 Big World 6-in1 Bongo Band toy ...... Read More

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Inspectors Find Structural Deficiencies within Infrastructure of Boston’s Longfellow Bridge

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on August 30, 2007

A major bridge in Massachusetts is slated for immediate repair during the state’s 40-day inspection of all bridges following the I35W bridge collapse in Minnesota earlier this month. Inspectors found two deteriorated support beams within the infrastructure of the Longfellow Bridge. These “jack beams” help support the deck system which holds up the actual roadway which s ...... Read More

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Big Dig Firm Pleads Guilty to Supplying Substandard Concrete

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on August 27, 2007

A federal judge has accepted a guilty plea this morning from Aggregate Industries NE Inc. for supplying 5,700 truckloads of substandard concrete used in Boston’s Big Dig project. The plea, according to the Boston Globe, came as part of a settlement in a fraud case that will cost the company $50 million. This comes just one day after a Boston Globe report that Massachusetts Attorney Gen ...... Read More

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Industries: Boston's Big Dig: A Materials Failure

Daily Inspections Set for Tobin Bridge

Posted by Elizabeth Taurasi on August 9, 2007

Update: Yesterday crews inspected the bottom portion of Boston’s Tobin bridge where the debris has been falling onto boats and cars below and cut off any dangling pieces. Today officials are saying similar inspections will continue daily until workers remove fragments or the nets are installed within the next couple of weeks. ...... Read More

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