The Big Dig

Jay Tea at Wizbang talks about the Massachusetts Big Dig highway project: bq. I haven't written much about Massachusetts' Big Dig project, but the latest revelations are just too good to share. bq. But first, a bit of background. The project to rework the highways in and around Boston have been going on for about 20 years. The plan was to tear down the elevated highways and replace them with sunken and buried roadways, along with a few new tunnels under Boston Harbor. The initial cost projection was around 2 billion dollars, making it the among the most expensive public works projects in US history. It's now behind schedule, pushing close to 15 billion dollars, and -- surprise, surprise!! -- having problems. bq. Now, all along officials and supporters have said there would be problems with the project. Simply put, whenever you try doing something this big for the first time, you're going to run into unforeseen problems. But yesterday's Boston Herald exposed a few of the screwups (print version only, it seems) that just boggle the mind. bq. 1) Several sections of tunnel walls were made of concrete, and it was done badly. So badly, large sections are already crumbling before the project is even finished. bq. 2) In the rush to meet milestones and deadlines, several roads were paved when the temperature was around freezing. As predicted, those sections of pavement are already falling apart. bq. 3) The Ted Williams Tunnel was built in sections, then assembled. One section, somehow, was built EIGHT FEET short. bq. 4) When they went to repair the sections of highway mentioned in #2, they did it so hastily that they paved over manhole covers. Let me repeat that: THEY PAVED OVER MANHOLE COVERS. One of Jay's commenters said the following: bq. I worked for Bechtel for 8+ years on the Big Dig as, among other things, a field inspector responsible for the oversight of the general contractors on the project. bq. I can tell you this. What you read in the papers is the tip of the iceberg. I left the project in 2000 as i was fed up with the utter incompetence festering at every level of management. bq. I've personally witnessed improper waterproofing techniques being used. My role at the time was limited to notification to the engineer in charge. Ouch!