Welcome to Design News’ Big Dig special coverage page. Read our latest news and visit our collection of resources to find out the latest on Boston's Big Dig hearing and discuss the materials failures of the project with fellow engineers.
LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: Congress to Approve National Tunnel Inspection Program in Wake of Big Dig Ceiling Tunnel Collapse
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to pass a national highway tunnel inspection program to try to prevent tragedies like Boston’s Big Dig Tunnel Collapse. Full Story
Big Dig Epoxy Provider Pleads Not Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter
Employees from Powers Fasteners, the company indicted last month on one count of involuntary manslaughter in last summer’s Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapse, pled not guilty in Suffolk Superior Court today. Full Story
Big Dig Firm Pleads Guilty to Supplying Substandard Concrete
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. Full Story
Big Dig Epoxy Indictment: The Silly Season Starts
Can the significant professional sloppiness involved in the supply of epoxy materials for the turnpike connector tunnel that experienced a catastrophic failure a year ago when a portion of the concrete roof collapsed be classified as criminal negligence? Full Story
Boston’s Tobin Bridge is Falling to Pieces
A 57-year-old span of bridge in Boston is giving boaters a reason to panic. Over the past two weeks, debris falling from the Tobin Bridge has broken windshields and caused other damages to the boats and vehicles below at the Chelsea Yacht Club. Full Story
Big Dig Epoxy Provider Facing Manslaughter Charge
Powers Fasteners Inc. of Brewster, NY is being charged with a single count of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 38-year-old Boston woman. Full Story
Big Dig Indictments Expected Today Against Powers Fasteners Inc. in Tunnel Collapse Tragedy
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is expected to announce the indictment of one of the companies involved with last summer's Boston Big Dig tunnel collapse that killed a 38-year-old woman when the car she was riding in was crushed by falling ceiling panels. Full Story
Big Dig Tunnel Collapse: Who Knew What About Epoxy, When?
A Massachusetts highway engineer denied approval to the fast-setting epoxy material that is blamed for a fatal ceiling collapse in Boston’s Big Dig tunnel project. Full Story
Big Dig Concrete Supplier Aggregate to Pay $42 Million
Aggregate Industries NE Inc., the company suspected of supplying the substandard concrete used in Boston’s Big Dig, has agreed to pay $42 million to settle civil and criminal investigations. Full Story
Boston’s Big Dig Materials Failure: It’s Got Engineers Talking
A year after the deadly Big Dig tunnel collapse, questions are finally being answered. While those at fault have been named, one thing has remained the same – engineers are still talking about it. Full Story
Big Dig Epoxy: Who Blew It?
Incorrect use of epoxy is blamed for the Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapse, but that is all that’s clear from the NTSB report, which finds fault with all the major contractors involved. Full Story
‘Epoxy Creep’ Main Factor in Big Dig Ceiling Panel Collapse
The biggest factor in the collapse of Boston's Big Dig ceiling panel which killed a woman a year ago was “epoxy creep,” according to the NTSB's findings. Full Story
Big Dig Ceiling Collapse Could Have Been Avoided
National Transportation Safety Board officials agreed today that the death of a 39-year-old woman in Boston's I-90 Connector tunnel could have been avoided if routine inspections had taken place in this portion of Boston's Big Dig Project. Full Story
Was Epoxy Used Appropriately for Loads?
As the hearing continues the focus is on the type of epoxy used in the ceiling panels that collapsed in the Big Dig tunnel last summer. Full Story
Big Dig Investigators Being Questioned by NTSB
Members of the NTSB are now questioning investigators about their report of the tunnel collapse. Full Story
Epoxy Used to Secure Ceiling Allowed Bolts to Slip
Investigators are now saying the Big Dig tunnel collapsed because the epoxy used to secure the ceiling allowed bolts to slip or "creep" over time. Full Story
Epoxy Faulted in Big Dig Collapse A criminal investigation in Boston is focusing on inappropriate use of quick-setting epoxy as the explanation for a ceiling collapse in a Big Dig connector tunnel that resulted in a fatality last summer. Full Story
Discuss the Big Dig Failure Visit our Talking Points Blog to get up-to-date coverage of the Big Dig hearing and contribute your thoughts on the Big Dig materials failure. Discuss Now
PAST COVERAGE Boston's Big Dig Leaking Like a Sieve The four-year-old 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 percent over last year after Massachusetts officials pledged to reduce them to a trickle. Full Story Big Dig Blame Game: Which Engineering Elements are at Fault for the Big Dig Tragedy? The science of tunnel-building has made up the bulk of what Big Dig investigators and local officials have been discussing in public as they try to piece together what happened. Full Story Update: Boston’s Big Dig Still Has Engineers Talking More than a month after Boston’s Big Dig was determined to have faulty bolt and epoxy assemblies, investigations are still uncovering problems and work is continuing to fix pieces of the project’s faulty infrastructure. An engineering who-done-it, it’s still driving hundreds of conversations across the Internet by engineers who continue to offer up their two cents as to what happened and why. Full StoryBoston’s Big Dig – One of Engineering’s Biggest Mistakes? With more headlines emerging every day, Boston’s Big Dig/Central Artery Tunnel Project is certainly becoming a topic everyone is talking about. With forums and blogs popping up all over the Internet in recent weeks, many techies are eager to speculate on what happened, why it happened and what the next steps should be. Full Story
APPALLING NEGLIGENCE IN BOSTON'S BIG DIG: PHOTOS TELL ALL
The NTSB has released an extensive set of photos that graphically depict mind-boggling negligence in Boston's Big Dig. Poor engineering, incompetence and perhaps worst, an utter lack of inspection over a known problem resulted in death, injury, runaway costs and endless inconvenience for drivers. Imagine driving over a bridge with visibly dangerous cracks in the girders – and doing nothing about them. That is the story of the Big Dig ceiling.
View Photo Gallery
USEFUL RESOURCES
Powers Fasteners Denies Negligence in Big Dig Tunnel’s Ceiling Collapse
National Transportation Safety Board’s Report
Fast-drying epoxy used in Big Dig let bolts slip over time
'Landmark' settlement in Big Dig tunnel collapse?
AG issues subpoenas in fatal Big Dig collapse
WBZ's Big Dig Timeline
Photo Timeline – The Big Dig Disaster
Boston Globe: A History of Big Dig Problems
AP Interactive – Big Dig Dirt
Turnpike boss quits amid Big Dig scandal
AP Video Clips on Big Dig Tunnel Tragedy
Big Dig Virtual Tours
Interactive Bolt System Throughout Project
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