Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sinkhole found in I-90 tunnel

A massive “sinkhole” at least 4 feet deep and up to 190 feet long has created a “void” under the Interstate 90 connector tunnel in the problem-plagued Big Dig, adding to a growing list of engineering failures that include a deadly ceiling collapse, dangerously unstable light fixtures and lethal railings, state transportation officials revealed yesterday.
Transportation officials insist there is no risk of a new catastrophic collapse in the tunnel — the same one where Milena Del Valle was killed by a 3-ton slab of concrete five years ago — but some critics said they aren’t convinced.
“You hear this and think, ‘What’s coming next?’ ” asked Rep. Peter Durant (R-Spencer), a Transportation Committee member calling for a probe of the latest Big Dig fiasco. “This is just another in a long line of problems for this project.”
The gap 9 feet under the tunnel’s roadway, filled with water and resembling a subterranean pond, was caused by an unexpected degree of settling of the clay soil around the tunnel as a result of a pioneering technique called “ground freezing” while contractors dug under the train tracks serving South Station.

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     Lucky for me I rarely go into Boston.  This 'Big Dig' project was the most expensive public works project in the country at the time.  Many people made much money(your money), some even legally, on this project which from the start was over budget and plagued with problems.  So when the President continually stands in front of his teleprompter talking about spending even more of our money on public projects and repairs to our infrastructure it usually means more of the same along with no accountability for the money already spent.
 

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