Wonder if anything like this was hanging from the tunnel roof structure? This is what was left of the KC Hyatt walkway.
Posted on 07/11/2006 12:18:46 PM PDT by raccoonradio
BOSTON Gov. Mitt Romney said he's taking legal action to remove Matt Amorello as head of the Big Dig after a woman was crushed to death by falling cement in one of its tunnels. Romney said nobody can feel comfortable driving through the tunnels.
Romney told reporters Tuesday afternoon that Amorello has "undermined public safety" through what he calls "leadership failures." He also said Amorello is “over his head” in the job and Romney wants to start a nationwide search for a replacement.
CBS4 has learned the attorney general has now launched a criminal probe into Monday night’s collapse in the I-90 connector eastbound tunnel.
38-year-old Milena M. Delvalle of Jamaica Plain was killed when three-ton concrete panels fell from the ceiling and crushed the car she was riding in.
CBS4's Jon Keller reports that Attorney General Tom Reilly has ordered investigators to seize debris from the collapse and records on the tunnel from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority offices.
Amorello, who toured the scene with Romney before the governor met with reporters, has asked State Police Major Michael Mucci to head the Turnpike's investigation into the accident.
“We will get to the bottom of what occurred here and hold any party responsible.” Amorello said at a late morning news conference.
Amorello said crews are now removing other panels in the eastbound side of tunnel that were held in place by the same kind of steel "tieback" suspected of failing in the accident. The westbound side panels will be removed Wednesday.
He said a different type of ceiling construction was used in the other Big Dig tunnels. But, as a precaution, they are inspecting the panels in the nearby Ted Williams Tunnel.
A steel tieback that held the 40-foot ceiling section in place gave way and landed on the car just after 11 p.m.
Delvalle was killed instantly. Her husband, 46 year-old Angel Delvalle, was driving the car. He escaped through a window with minor injuries. The couple was heading to the airport to pick up relatives.
Their car was partially crushed under at least four ceiling panels. It was in the left lane, giving the driver's side more protection as panels came to rest also on a left-side service walkway that is elevated several feet above the road.
Charlie Young was in the tunnel moments after the collapse. ”I literally saw the ceiling on top of the vehicle," he told CBS4 Tuesday morning. “I never saw anything like that in my whole life."
The ceiling panels were erected in 1999 and the contractor was Modern Continental. In a statement the company said, "We express our sincere condolences to the Delvalle family. Modern Continental is cooperating fully with the investigation into the cause of this tragedy. We are confident that our work fully complied with the plans and specifications provided by the Central Artery Tunnel Project. In addition, the work was inspected and approved by the Central Artery Tunnel Project."
A source close to the investigation told CBS4’s Joe Shortsleeve he thinks the bolts that held the massive panels in place were not properly fastened.
Amorello says the earliest the tunnel will re-open is Wednesday afternoon.
The accident happened about 200 feet from the end of the connector tunnel. The site is near the entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel, which goes under Boston Harbor to Logan Airport.
Traffic headed east to Logan will be detoured through the Callahan Tunnel, and westbound traffic exiting the Ted Williams Tunnel will be detoured through South Boston.
Governor Romney cut short his vacation in New Hampshire to return to Boston Tuesday morning.
I think the fair thing to do would be to make amorello live his life out in his tunnel--or what may be left of it.
This morning, one of the guys who worked on the big dig had written a warning to FM Amarillo in 1998 that the risk was high that the concrete slabs on the suspended ceilings would fall.
What's worse, the beams supporting them had lots of holes drilled into them. Then the holes were filled in, and the beams were not replaced.
Yikes!
Lots of people will be looking for an alternate route to the airport
State Officials Downplay Report On Ted Williams Tunnel Danger
Good job, mewzilla! That's the one!
Click here for a PDF version of Cerasoli's report.
Amorello is a true hack without any visible capabilities or common sense, whose entire career has been in running from one failed public job to another. That said, Romney and Amorello truly dispise one another and are like two male cats stuffed into a sack.
Mitt with the gloves OFF - good. Ammorillo is a lifetime hack who IS over his head. Romney has been battling to oust him since he got elected.
meanwhile, when it rains it pours...heavy T-storms in area now. Hail, flooding, reports of tornadoes. I'm actually listening to WRKO's web stream now as the reg. signal on 680 is so full of static.
FM should have been fired ages ago
I guess 14 billion doesn't go as far as it used to.
There was a tornado warning out for the Gloucester area a little while ago.
The Big Dig is already collapsing, and with the El gone, leaves Boston with no workable road system. Couldn't happen to a better state.
yes it said a funnel was spotted in Topsfield "7 mi. NW of Beverly" (I'm in Beverly down the street from muffy Healey!)...was heading E into Ipswich, Essex, Gloucester. CH 4 is on TV--winds of 80mph potential in Lynnfield??!?
"FM should have been fired ages ago"
He can't be fired unless Mitt gets enough of his own people on the board like he did with the Currupt Midget, Billy Bulger.
One down, one to go. Go Mitt!!!
Two quotes from Barney Frank, of all people (I could be wrong but thought it was him), when talk came of depressing the Central Artery:
"Wouldn't it be cheaper to raise the city?"
"Need to have the Central Artery depressed? Just have Mike
Dukakis talk to it."
thanks--comp. going off now. Heavier rain, lightning here near Dane St. Beach in beverly
Wicked Thunderstorms in Rowley about 20 minutes ago...
Wonder if anything like this was hanging from the tunnel roof structure? This is what was left of the KC Hyatt walkway.
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