Lessons from the Big Dig

Author(s): D.W. Fowler
Paper category: Conference
Book title: Concrete Repair, Rehabilitation and Retrofitting III (ICCRRR)
Editor(s): M.G. Alexander, H.-D. Beushausen, F. Dehn, P. Moyo
Print ISBN: 978-0-415-89952-9
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Pages: 287- 288
Total Pages: 2
Language: English

Abstract: 
The Big Dig, costing $14.8 billion, was the most expensive construction project ever completed in the U.S. It involved rebuilding the expressway system in downtown Boston and included many bridges and tunnels. The tunnels were constructed with concrete ceiling panels suspended using steel rods with epoxy anchors in the ceiling of the tunnel. After some of the tunnels were opened for traffic, several ceiling panels in one of the tunnels fell and killed the passenger of a car. An extensive forensic investigation followed, and it was found that there had been many warnings concerning the attachment of the panels that were not heeded by the construction manager. The final conclusion of the National Transportation Board was that the use of an epoxy anchor adhesive with poor resistance to creep that allowed the anchors to pull free was the probable cause of the collapse. The story of the Big Dig collapse involves engineering, construction, repair and ethics.

Online publication: 2014
Publication Type: abstract_only
Public price (Euros): 0.00