There's a reason they call it the "Big Dig".
Posted on 08/11/2005 9:24:52 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
BOSTON - State police searched the offices of the Big Dig's largest concrete supplier in June and found evidence of faked records that hid the poor quality of concrete delivered for the massive highway project, Attorney General Tom Reilly said.
The state is working with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney to prosecute the case. "We got the records that we were looking for and the information we were looking for," Reilly told The Boston Globe in a story published Thursday.
Lawyers for Aggregate Industries said the company stood by the quality of the concrete it supplied.
"Aggregate Industries never delivered to a contractor that worked for the state of Massachusetts on the Central Artery or to the state directly any concrete that did not meet the specifications called for in the contract, nor was any concrete delivered to the site which failed to meet the strength specifications called for by the state," said attorney R. Robert Popeo.
Reilly said there was no reason to believe the project's structural integrity or safety was compromised. He noted that the concrete in question would have been delivered at least five years ago and any problems would probably have appeared by now.
Inspectors for the Big Dig randomly tested concrete batches at the plants, making sure the material had the right mix of stone, water, chemicals, sand and cement, and the correct consistency and strength. After trucks carried the concrete to construction sites, another inspector randomly tested material to make sure it was properly mixed and not more than 90 minutes old.
Hundreds of thousands of such deliveries were made over the 14 years of heavy construction on the Big Dig.
"The concrete on the Big Dig passed every single quality-control test," said Tracy A. Miner, another attorney for Aggregate Industries.
Reilly said the raids at Aggregate properties in Peabody, Saugus and Everett turned up evidence that the company had falsified paperwork to make it appear that old or rejected concrete had been freshly poured.
Reilly said there was no reason to suspect a connection to the hundreds of leaks discovered in the highway tunnels that take vehicles under Boston. That investigation is being conducted separately.
The allegations about concrete strength stemmed from a whistleblower suit filed in May in Suffolk Superior Court. A Suffolk County grand jury is hearing evidence in the case, and Aggregate officials have also appeared before a federal grand jury sitting in Worcester.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan declined to comment on specific allegations against Aggregate Industries, but said the office is looking into "all aspects of the Big Dig."
No evidence to date implicates project overseers Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, Reilly said.
Aggregate provided 60 percent of the concrete used to build the Big Dig, according to the highway project's Web site.
Aggregate Industries was acquired this year by Holcim Ltd., a Swiss company with U.S. headquarters in Maryland.
___
On the Net:
Big Dig: http://www.masspike.com/bigdig
Aggregate: http://www.aggregate.com
Maybe they should just pour concrete into the big dig.
How much money to you want to bet the concrete supplier was a political contributer to the Democrats in charge of the dig.
I would like the newspaper to expose to whom and how much this company donated.
Is jimmy hoffa in the big dig?
The entire Big Dig was a boondoggle for state Dems and their cronies. It doesn't matter that the Gov. for the last 18 years has been a Repub., the Dems still control every aspect of State Govt. here in MA.
So out of character for a government/union construction project.
Do you suppose The Swimmer and Jean Francois found a way to make a buck off the charlie foxtrot also known as The Big Dig?
It will be condemned. Maybe it will be replaced with an elevated highway cutting through the city. Let's see. Two, three lanes should be enough. We can call it the South East Expressway. I'm not saying that the tunnel leaks but I got stuck in back of a guy with a Ramses II license plate that wouldn't enter.
What would you expect from Ted Kennedy's and John Kerry's state?
> ... randomly tested concrete batches at the plants ..
> ... construction sites... randomly tested material
> to make sure it was properly mixed and not more
> than 90 minutes old.
But did they pour test articles for later destructive
testing and archival purposes? Apparently not.
Time to drill some cores from the structures?
Is it actually possible to get mixed concrete from a
plant to downtown Boston in under 90 minutes?
"Maybe they should just pour concrete into the big dig."
It would probably less expensive simply to pack the Big Dig with cash from taxpayers.
You'd think they could make enough profit pouring GOOD concrete!
He's probably confused. Having someone approve a product is not the same as the product passing a test. A little money passed around can easily get something approved either by bypassing the test or faking test results.
Where do you suspect the tests came from?
LOL!
There's a reason they call it the "Big Dig".
"An odd pattern of corruption, overspending, and incompetence is being displayed on this project."
Sounds alot like the construction of Denver International Airport.
They probably had something called a batch plant on site for the concrete going into this project.
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