Talk about your corruption issues. Was this built by Bechtel, or Halliburton? I forget. Something like 10 years behind schedule and multi-billion dollars over budget.
Big Dig Collapse Prompts Renewed Scrutiny
At least 12 tons of concrete collapsed onto a passing car in a Big Dig tunnel, fatally crushing a newlywed and prompting renewed scrutiny Tuesday of the costliest highway project in U.S. history. The state attorney general said he plans to treat the site as a crime scene that could lead to charges of negligent homicide.“What we are looking at is anyone who had anything to do with what happened last night,” Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said. “No one is going to be spared.”
The accident around 11 p.m. Monday was near the entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel, which runs under Boston Harbor to Logan International Airport. The driver of the crushed car managed to crawl through a window to safety, but his wife died when four of massive concrete ceiling panels fell on the vehicle.
Oh, Bechtel.
The $14 billion highway project, which buried Interstate 93 beneath downtown and extended the Massachusetts Turnpike to Logan Airport, has been criticized for years over construction problems and cost overruns. There have been water leaks and at least one incident when dirt and debris from an air shaft fell onto cars.In May, prosecutors charged six current and former employees of a concrete supplier with fraud for allegedly concealing that some concrete delivered to the Big Dig was not freshly mixed.
...Amorello said the contractor was Modern Continental. Representatives of that company and project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Ain't politics grand?
Tags: corruption, /Boston
