March 15, 2005

BOSTON, WHERE THE 70'S NEVER ENDED:

Doubt aired on safety of I-93 tunnels: Engineer cites leaks, damage, lack of data (Sean P. Murphy and Raphael Lewis, March 15, 2005, Boston Globe)

The engineering specialist who led the investigation into leaks in the Big Dig says he can no longer say with confidence that the Interstate 93 tunnels are safe to drive in, according to a letter obtained by the Globe.

The March 9 letter from prominent tunnel consultant Jack K. Lemley to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority represents a startling reversal from testimony Lemley offered last November on Beacon Hill, when he told worried lawmakers: ''I have no reason to believe there is any risk to public safety" for those driving in the Interstate 93 tunnels.

Since then, Lemley wrote, new information has surfaced that more than 40 large sections of tunnel wall contain construction defects and that fireproofing material has been damaged by leaks and fallen into the roadway.

In addition, he wrote, project officials have blocked him from obtaining records and data related to those problems.

''I am now unable to express an opinion as to the safety of the I-93 portion of the Central Artery," Lemley added. ''My modified position is necessary due to a revised understanding of the magnitude of problems that we became aware of following our testimony on November 30, 2004, and the recent failures reported in the local newspapers."

In his letter, Lemley said his change of position was also driven by the apparent lack of any formal plan by project officials to address the leaks.


Not the one he planned, but the perfect monument to Tip O'Neill.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 15, 2005 7:54 AM
Comments

The Discovery Channel needs a new episode of "Enginerring Disasters" anyway...

Posted by: John at March 15, 2005 8:08 AM

That would make the Big Dig simultaneously a Modern Marvel and an Engineering Disaster.

Posted by: Governor Breck at March 15, 2005 8:26 AM

The Big Dig is indeed a government disaster, not an engineering one. As I understand it, in order not to disturb valuable land under the Boston Fed and elsewhere, the state opted for a cutting-edge tunnel-sealing method that required exquisite execution. Unfortunately, it used a local subcontractor whose abilities apparently were not cutting edge (the firm also made a hash of the Rte. 3 expansion). All politics may be local, but major infrastructure improvement should not be.

Posted by: Ed Bush at March 15, 2005 9:00 AM

Massachusetts is now, always has been, and forever will be, a sinkhole populated by partisan hacks, IRA money runners, and Mob thugs who failed in the big leagues aka NYC.

Nobody would miss the Commonwealth if it were bodily carved out and set down near the Outer Hebrides.

Euthanasia would be too merciful for them.

Posted by: Not the real Bart at March 15, 2005 1:57 PM

When it floods, the state should provide black Oldsmobile sedans for traversing the tunnel.

If it collapses, a marshy watercourse should be made, and small companies could set up SwiftBoat ferry rides.

Posted by: jim hamlen at March 15, 2005 2:46 PM

when asked how strongly he felt about the problem, lemley said its "more than a feeling"

Posted by: cjm at March 15, 2005 10:18 PM

This one should have had an astrofix.

Posted by: joe shropshire at March 16, 2005 12:34 AM
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