State knew of dig ceiling risk - Herald
by: hubspoke
Thu Jul 26, 2007 at 23:47:30 PM EDT
( - promoted by David)
In a state where many past appointments to key state agencies have honored cronyism over competence, I am saddened but not surprised at this pathetic revelation.
I wonder if there were conscientious state engineers who did bring up their epoxy concerns to superiors but were told to shut up.
Documents: State knew of dig ceiling risk
By Casey Ross
Boston Herald Reporter
Thursday, July 26, 2007 - Updated: 09:46 PM EST
Explosive new Big Dig documents show that state engineers knew the dangers of the quick-drying epoxy used in the fatally flawed tunnel section, a finding that directly contradicts a federal investigation into the ceiling collapse that killed Milena Del Valle of Jamaica Plain.
The documents, disclosed yesterday by attorneys for the epoxy supplier, reveal a chain of communication in which state officials were clearly informed of the deficiencies of the glue that failed and caused 26 tons of concrete to crash onto the roadway of the Interstate 90 Seaport connector tunnel on July 10 of last year. Del Valle was a passenger in a car crushed by the falling concrete ceiling.
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That finding is significant because it proves that the dangers of quick-drying epoxy were known on the project, but no one appears to have considered that its use could have been the reason bolts were slipping out of the tunnel ceiling shortly after its installation.<snip>
The firm also questioned why that knowledge was not brought to light earlier. “State officials have had these documents for some time, but it is not clear whether they were disclosed to (federal investigators),” the statement said.
This is the scene of the fatal partial collapse of the I-90 E extension tunnel on July 11, 2006. (File)More:
http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=8037See also:
Documents: State knew of dig ceiling risk
http://news.bostonherald.com/localPolitics/view.bg?articleid=1013644