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Boston's $14.8B Big Dig Finally Complete
Associated Press ^ | Dec. 25, 2007 | STEVE LeBLANC

Posted on 12/25/2007 2:28:03 PM PST by george76

When the clock runs out on 2007, Boston will quietly mark the end of one of the most tumultuous eras in the city's history: The Big Dig, the nation's most complex and costliest highway project, will officially come to an end.

After a history marked by engineering triumphs, tunnels leaks, epic traffic jams, last year's death of a motorist crushed by falling concrete panels and a price tag that soared from $2.6 billion to a staggering $14.8 billion, there's little appetite for celebration.

Civil and criminal cases stemming from the July 2006 tunnel ceiling collapse continue, though on Monday the family of Milena Del Valle announced a $6 million settlement with Powers Fasteners...

Lawsuits are pending against other Big Dig contractors, and Powers Fasteners still faces a manslaughter indictment.

Officially, Dec. 31 marks the end of the joint venture that teamed megaproject contractor Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority ...

One of the biggest occurred in 2004 when water started pouring through a wall of the recently opened I-93 tunnel under downtown Boston. An investigation found the leak was caused by the failure to clear debris that became caught in the concrete in the wall during construction. Hundreds of smaller drips, most near the ceiling, were also found.

But the project's darkest day came near the end of construction in 2006 when suspended concrete ceiling panels in a tunnel leading to Logan Airport collapsed, crushing a car and killing Del Valle, 39, a passenger in the vehicle driven by her husband.

The tunnel was shut down for months...

Four workers also were killed working on the project.

The project's escalating budget also became an unwanted part of its legacy.

In 2000, former Big Dig head James Kerasiotes resigned after failing to disclose $1.4 billion in overruns...

(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.ask.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: bigdig; boston; donttaketheolds; massachusetts; porkbarrell; teddycanswimagain
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To: ASOC

I thought that a bridge to the K airport was a good idea.


21 posted on 12/25/2007 4:08:47 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: river rat

This is the outcome when you let the mob run the project. I know, as I built the tunneling equipment, so I got my piece of the pie, none of the graft though.


22 posted on 12/25/2007 4:09:08 PM PST by stubernx98 (cranky, but reasonable)
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To: NRA2BFree

23 posted on 12/25/2007 4:09:51 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

I expect that by next summer, it will be either closed or partially closed off for repairs.


24 posted on 12/25/2007 4:11:11 PM PST by jmcenanly
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To: MassachusettsGOP; GOPsterinMA; Lonesome in Massachussets; traviskicks; fieldmarshaldj; neverdem; ...

As I said in a prior thread, WHAT A MESS!!!!!


25 posted on 12/25/2007 4:31:17 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (You can't be serious about national security unless you're serious about border security)
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To: Rastus
I remember seeing Teddy K. ranting on television about that veto.

He was attacking those who claimed that the costs were waaay underestimated.

26 posted on 12/25/2007 4:35:14 PM PST by El Sordo
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To: george76

just 3 lanes a side? After all that money?

I just pray none of my younger family members out here in Flyover Country
gets stuck with the bill for BIG DIG 2.
Cause as surely as night follows day, Boston will get one.


27 posted on 12/25/2007 4:48:05 PM PST by VOA
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To: MIchaelTArchangel
I never know when I drive thorough those tunnels if I will live long enough to see the other end . . . .


28 posted on 12/25/2007 5:13:12 PM PST by henbane
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To: george76

Not a lot of support in State. A lot could have been done with 200 mill - much more than a bridge.

Such is life and politics.


29 posted on 12/25/2007 5:20:24 PM PST by ASOC
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To: VOA

Not in Mass, but lots of money for so little.

At least the politicans and friends were taken care of...

/s


30 posted on 12/25/2007 5:31:34 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: ASOC

Is the only way to the K airport by ferry or private boats ?


31 posted on 12/25/2007 5:33:56 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

Well, you *could* swim, but the airlines really hate dripping wet passengers.

Having flown to LID several times, the ferry is a pain, but no worse than the taxi fares in Las Vegas, for example.


32 posted on 12/25/2007 5:44:08 PM PST by ASOC
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To: george76

WOW - I can’t believe that THIS cost TWICE what the Trans-Alaska pipeline project cost! Just to go a FEW miles! THAT is the difference between repressive GOVERNMENT and Free Enterprise.


33 posted on 12/25/2007 5:45:35 PM PST by 2harddrive (...House a TOTAL Loss.....)
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To: george76

Who was governor when this project was started? If there ever was a waste of taxpayer money...this was it.


34 posted on 12/25/2007 5:47:16 PM PST by no dems (FRED THOMPSON: The only Conservative running who can beat Hillary or Obama.)
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To: no dems

former Gov. Michael Dukakis ?


35 posted on 12/25/2007 5:51:24 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: ASOC

The water temperature might be a tad cool ?


36 posted on 12/25/2007 5:52:20 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: henbane

I still think the name of the tunnel should be the “Tip O’Neill Taxpayer Shaft”, or TOTS for short.


37 posted on 12/25/2007 5:54:47 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: george76
Just a *bit* - I understand an unprotected (no poopie suit) human can live for almost 20 min in the water, if good medical aid is on scene. Makes me wonder how all the sailboats in the AO can stand to be below decks w/o the heater blasting away full bore.

The area itself is very beautiful.

With 13 feet (yes, feet) of rain per season the forest is very pretty. To garden well requires a greenhouse.

Nearby is the Misty Fjords Park (yet another huge section of Alaska tied up by the Feds) and just ‘around the corner’ Sitka offers both fantastic fishing and fantastic scenery.

I love living in Anchorage, it is such a short drive to Alaska.

38 posted on 12/25/2007 5:58:59 PM PST by ASOC
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To: ASOC

We flew into Misty Fjords some years ago , saw lots of goats...stopped in a high, small, fresh water lake in a Beaver.

Very fun : as it had been raining for a month solid, but was clear during our visit.

Always wanted to go back, but thought that we would never see as much with low hanging clouds.


39 posted on 12/25/2007 6:14:26 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: george76

The Big Dig will NEVER be complete. There will be repairs galore, complete reconstructions of the most defective sections, and the inevitable expansions when the traffic gets unbearable again(if it is not already). You just can’t shut down such a huge cash cow for the pols, mob bosses, and union thugs. They will keep this thing going for hundreds of years, if possible.


40 posted on 12/25/2007 6:18:39 PM PST by yawningotter
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