:: rawblogXport ::

:: Sunday, November 14, 2004 ::

Mass. Big Dig Springs Big Leaks; Hunt Commences to Pin Blame for Allegedly Faulty Construction Insurance Journal
The latest bad news came from a commission formed to investigate the September leak, in which an eight-inch hole opened in a wall panel, flooding the northbound Interstate 93 tunnel and causing a 10-mile backup.

Big Dig officials said the 1999 field notes showed that workers had trouble placing metal bars at the bottom of a 120-foot deep section, and later had difficulty pouring the concrete needed to create the panel in what would become the underground northbound lanes of I-93, which cuts through Boston.

An engineering consultant hired by the Turnpike Authority, which manages the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Big Dig, said the most likely culprit was foreign material that got mixed in with the concrete and washed away over time, creating the breach.

George Tamaro, the consultant, said a patch didn't hold, largely because the leaking panel was next to another panel poured by a different contractor, and some material overflowed. The panel that produced the leak was poured by Modern Continental, the largest contractor on the project, which he said failed to remove the extra material.

posted 9:47 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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