Dig mess goes from bad to worse: Commuter nightmare

The Boston Herald ^ | 07/17/2006 | Casey Ross

[maryz]

I would imagine that if they wee done right, they would hold.

I heard some construction people call in about this -- most of them thought the epoxy bolts were inappropriate for ceiling work (one guy didn't like them for anything). Some thought they were fine for something like walls, i.e., vertical, where the weight shears (if I'm saying it right) instead of hanging straight down.

[maryz]

I would imagine that if they were done right, they would hold.

I forgot: I also heard that apparently it's extremely painstaking work to do them right. There has to be absolutely no dust between the concrete and the epoxy, for one thing. These were apparently done carelessly -- if they ran into rebar while drilling, they cut the bolt shorter.

One guy said they work better if they're put in before the concrete has set. Someone else mentioned the problems of something like different rates of shrinkage of curing concrete, epoxy and the steel bolts have to be taken into account. (I have no personal knowledge of any of this -- just repeating what I've heard.)

[DustyMoment]

Hub drivers’ nightmares will last for “months,” Gov. Mitt Romney said yesterday, announcing tests of epoxy-anchored bolts in the Interstate 90 network have revealed a “systemic failure” of the ceiling suspension system that will require millions of dollars in time-consuming repairs.

WOW, just think what it would be like if they had spent $30 Billion instead of a measly $15 Billion on the Big Dig!!!!

[Gorzaloon]

.....so does this mean that epoxy cemented bolts don't hold.....if so this has serious implications for earthquake CA. ...?

They do not hold if Boston Union Drunks do the work.

Effectiveness in Your locality may vary.

[raybbr]

Look for the union label when you are buying that coat, dress or tunnel....

Interesting that you don't mention the engineering company that came up with the design. Do you think union workers designed the tunnel?

[AmericanVictory]

What is the world coming to when the construction graft which made the Democrat party what it is today no longer holds?

[geopyg]

On one of the TV shows it had "Engineering Disasters". As I recall, only about 2 of the 10 they talked about was in the engineering. Most of them were workers taking shortcuts or doing things NOT they way they were supposed too.

That said - if you design something that has to be done PERFECTLY with no dust, etc. and then hand it off to your typical laborer under typical working conditions - your design isn't what it should be.

[kittymyrib]

"when there's a fire, hurricane-force winds rush through the area above the tiles to push smoke out of the tunnel."
Is this the Tip O'Neill Tunnel? If so, there shouldn't be a problem finding enough hot air for ventilation.

[mewzilla]

Anyone know if they're checking the concrete as well?

[Lady Jag]

Some of the concrete used was "old", whatever that means . . . old in the truck?

[maryz]

AS I understand it, "old" concrete is what's washed out of the truck, then mixed with fresh. Problem is that the old is more sand and aggregate than cement so it's weaker than fresh and cures at a different rate; anyway, there will be weak spots. I gather it's acceptable in some applications like driveways, but clearly not for ceilings.

[Lady Jag]

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you.

[Lady Jag]

I'll be heading that way from the south (rte 24) in a little while for a dr. appt. in town. It ought to be fun.

[dingoMcgill]

Raise the minimum speed limit in the tunnel to maximum.

[raybbr]

That said - if you design something that has to be done PERFECTLY with no dust, etc. and then hand it off to your typical laborer under typical working conditions - your design isn't what it should be.

You could say that about any job, then. Unless the engineer is willing to stand there and monitor every hole drilled, every nut tightened, etc. then you always rely on the people doing the work. Yet, we don't have tunnels and buildings falling all over the place.

[Tribune7]

Friends don't let friends vote Dem.

[mewzilla]

Thanks, mary z!

Lady Jag, for more on the concrete thing, from May '06...

OUR VIEW: Big Dig indictments

[Lady Jag]

Those ceiling panels weren't even supposed to be made of concrete, according to a couple TV reports I heard. Romney, I think, say they were supposed to be of metal (aluminum?) of lighter weight, claiming the concrete was too heavy but construction workers used concrete instead, to "save money".

[mewzilla]

Jeepers. I would've thought a project like this would be spec'd out the wazoo. Were the slabs to spec or weren't they? And if they were, who designed that, and were the slabs constructed to spec? If they weren't part of the spec, who deviated, who signed off, and if no-one signed off, how the heck did that happen?

[KeepUSfree]

C'mon...that's an EASY one. Organized Crime runs the Cement businesses in NJ (and elsewhere). Therefore, cement MUST be used - even though it is costly, inefficient, the wrong material for the job, and dangerous.

Remember, MAss is run by 2 crime families who "take care of each other. The first is the Mafia. The second are the Democrats.