Collapsed Concrete Ceiling Tiles Served No Structural Purpose (Ted Williams Tunnel)

Howie Carr ^ | 7/12/06 | Howie Carr

[Aquinasfan]

Howie Carr reports that an "unnamed source" has revealed that the 3-ton ceiling panels in the Ted Williams Tunnel, several of which collapsed killing a driver Monday, serve no structural purpose. Their purpose is strictly aesthetic.

At a news conference yesterday, spokesmen for the turnpike authority intimated that the panels help to remove exhaust from the tunnel. The unnamed source claims that the panels only serve to hide the ceiling fans.

[Aquinasfan]

It's pretty obvious when you look at the public photos. The panels work like 3-ton office ceiling tiles. They sure don't look like air ducts.

I don't see how any civil engineer in his right mind would install suspended 3-ton concrete ceiling panels for aesthetic reasons only. A light metal or plastic mesh would have worked just fine, and been a lot less expensive. It seems to me that this was make-work or make-expense.

[The G Man]

Because (insert name of unionized subcontractor here) needed a cut of the pie.

[martin_fierro]

Howie's having a field day with this.

Love his show.

[Froufrou]

Is it merely coincidence that the namesake of the tunnel also has no structural support? [/sarc]

[theDentist]

I don't see how any civil engineer in his right mind would install suspended 3-ton concrete ceiling panels for aesthetic reasons only.

When your employer has a bottomless bank acount and doesn't even show up to meetings or question expenses, who's to say it shouldn't be done?

[ncountylee]

A light metal or plastic mesh would have worked just fine, and been a lot less expensive. It seems to me that this was make-work or make-expense.

Makes nothing but sense, a mesh screen would be just as esthetically appealing at a fraction of the cost. How were the fans to be serviced behind 3 1/2 ton concrete panels?

[Clara Lou]

It's too bad that a woman had to pay with her life for this.

[Manfred the Wonder Dawg]

Typical of a government project: lots of dead, useless weight that cost tons of taxpayer money.

[sinkspur]

I don't see how any civil engineer in his right mind would install suspended 3-ton concrete ceiling panels for aesthetic reasons only. A light metal or plastic mesh would have worked just fine, and been a lot less expensive. It seems to me that this was make-work or make-expense.

They had to be concrete. The mob is bigtime into concrete, and somebody was getting a kickback from the goombahs.

[Aquinasfan]

How were the fans to be serviced behind 3 1/2 ton concrete panels?

Didn't even think of that. Very carefully, I guess...

[MineralMan]

"I don't see how any civil engineer in his right mind would install suspended 3-ton concrete ceiling panels for aesthetic reasons only. A light metal or plastic mesh would have worked just fine, and been a lot less expensive. It seems to me that this was make-work or make-expense."

---

I think you're absolutely right. Suspended ceilings work fine when they're made of lightweight materials, but this concrete business was an accident waiting to happen.

One of the reasons for them, however, may have been more than aesthetic. The concrete looks substantial, and that may have made drivers feel more secure in the tunnel.

However, psychological stuff doesn't hold concrete up, it seems. The problem, now, is that there won't be any confidence in the remaining ceiling materials. And, perhaps, there shouldn't be.

I'm guessing they didn't engineer a high enough safety factor for this material. As corrosion of the supports progresses, more of this stuff is going to fall.

I predict that it will all be replaced, perhaps with the lightweight materials you mentioned.

[Aquinasfan]

They had to be concrete. The mob is bigtime into concrete, and somebody was getting a kickback from the goombahs.

Yeah, the latest excuse is that the ceiling tiles had to withstand hurricane-force winds. I guess someone could have died if the plastic mesh came loose in a tunnel hurricane. No, wait...

[RJS1950]

The mob is bigtime into concrete...

You must be talking about Kerry and the Killer Whale's friends.

[Lazamataz]

WTF??? Why use concrete for ceiling tiles???

Kickbacks happening here!

[Peach]

The mafia made so much money off that project using shoddy materials that now that someone has died and a real investigation MIGHT take place, we can expect people involved in the project to be "disappeared".

[Red Badger]

When you name something after Ted Williams, expect things to come to a head...........

[Aquinasfan]

I'm guessing they didn't engineer a high enough safety factor for this material.

They may have, actually. One rumor going around is that when the construction crews drilling the holes for the tie-backs ran into rebar, they stopped drilling and cut the bolts short.

But the point remains, why build an accident waiting to happen? Especially when a cheaper, safer solution is available.

As corrosion of the supports progresses, more of this stuff is going to fall.

Another risk.

[Red Badger]

I predict that it will all be replaced, perhaps with the lightweight materials you mentioned.

Why replace them at all? If they serve no function, just remove them!........

[Diogenesis]

[Aquinasfan]

WTF??? Why use concrete for ceiling tiles???

The media still isn't concentrating on this. They're focusing on "bad panels." They're not getting the fact that the entire ceiling is an unneccessary and dangerous structure.

Howie's got the concept though, and he'll beat it into the ground even if the Boston MSM doesn't.