Posted on 07/12/2006 11:26:51 AM PDT by 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.
The Ted Williams Tunnel part of the Big Dig connected the Turnpike to the airport, which was a good idea. But the main portion of the Dig was the suppression of the central artery. It simply put the elevated central artery (I-93) underground. They also closed a few exits.
Yes, at $14 billion, it's completely insane.
Don't hold your breath waiting for someone to be held accountable for this (unless your favorite color is blue).
Concrete is what you get when you mix Cement, water and sand.......in appropriate ratios........Lawsuits is what you get when you don't.........
I know that epoxy can be stronger than steel, so that wasn't necessarily the problem. Necessarily.
>>The authority was slated to pass out of existence a few years ago, so they floated their own 30 year bonds!
Tolls were to be a thing of the past back when I was a toddler. I'm now 44. "Oh, the Pike's in great shape, great shape." Then, when the time comes to renew bonds: "We are in horrible shape and need that money to make urgent repairs."
Goes back and forth.
That's what he's best at, since he doesn't have any coherent set of beliefs or principles. He's basically a populist, but this is a good time for populism.
It didn't improve traffic at all, basically just rerouted underground, which coincidentally freed up some real estate...
BTW, all told the Big Dig took 15 years and 15 billion dollars to build. Tax dollars.
But it really should not be a problem to hang three ton slabs from a structure the size of the main tunnell tube. I've hung more than 6 tons off small slabs in hospitals while installing equipment many times. But we never hang big loads off slabs without horizontal members into columns.
Additionally 1/2 inch grade 8 bolts, which we always use are good for about 10 tons in tension and 9 in shear. So it's doubtful their was a catastrophic bolt failure in tension.
My best guess as a blue collar guy is that there were no horizontal members, so everything was in tension which is fine load wise until things in tension start moving to and fro a little bit eventually leading to the anchor point failing. Couple that with possible substandard concrete, hole depths that don't meet spec and shoddy epoxy work and you have the Mass Employment Act of 1995 in big kimshi.
All educated guesses though.
There are plenty of reasons why a concrete ceiling could be needed inside a tunnel beyond simple aesthetics. The interior of a highway tunnel isn't like an office or conference room . . . it's not like you can just stick a bunch of foam tiles up there to make it look pretty.
You can see the design of the ceiling tile system. Crazy.
Yup. You and I probably read some of the same books.
I met this lady recently. She is 91 years old.
We got talking somehow about Ted Williams.
She knew him back in the rookie years.
She claimed that he tried to date her but she declined.
I'll be seeing this wonderful woman again soon I hope. She was quite bright and now I got to go read some Shakespeare stuff that she explained to me.
Life is wonderful!
DId you see how they were mounted? Incredible...
I'm no engineer, nor do I play one on TV, but could these things serve some sort of acoustic dampening purpose?
20 Billion of MY taxes flushed down the drain so ultra-leftist socialists can get to their shore castles faster!
Where's Mary Jo Kopechne when you need her?
"The mob is bigtime into concrete, and somebody was getting a kickback from the goombahs."
Maybe they will find Jimmy Hoffa if they have to tear down enough of this boondoggle (or it falls down on its own!!)
Kind of like the Kennedys trying to hide windmills in somebody elses neighborhood.
They got some extra aesthetic they hadn't counted on.
The only one accountable is going to be the taspayer for the inevitable high settlement this woman's heirs wil receive.
I don't know what you were trying to say about concrete and cement, but it did not come out right. Concrete is a mixture of cement and aggregates such as sand and gravel, that is mixed with water and allowed to harden. It is poured wet( usually, but not always). Cement is one of the ingredients of concrete or mortar.
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