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Kiss it good by Mitt -- You blew it BIG DIG TIME

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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:20 PM
Original message
Kiss it good by Mitt -- You blew it BIG DIG TIME
Edited on Mon Jul-17-06 04:22 PM by Sydnie
Romney: Big Dig ceiling bolts unreliable

BOSTON - Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday tests show all of the 1,146 bolt assemblies that used epoxy and more than 300 other areas in a Big Dig connector tunnel where the ceiling collapsed are now considered unreliable.

Romney, speaking at a Statehouse news conference where he drew charts and diagrams of the problems, said those areas will now have to be reinforced.

Last week, days after 12 tons of ceiling panels came loose and fell on a car, crushing the passenger, the governor announced that inspections had shown there were at least 242 points where bolts were separating from the tunnel roof.


He knew, before that woman was killed, that there was trouble and he did nothing! Way to go Mitt ... you carpetbagger asshole you.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060717/ap_on_re_us/big_dig


edit to add his stupid picture

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Atman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:23 PM
Response to Original message
1. I don't think that is what the article says
You're correct, it says "inspections had shown..." but that doesn't automatically mean "...had shown weeks prior to the collapse." I believe it is referring to the inspections which were performed after the collapse. I may be wrong, but I don't think so.
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hughee99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:25 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. I believe you're correct...
The inspections weren't done until after the accident, if I'm not mistaken.
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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:26 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. I think they did inspections after the leaks began
in order to prepare for any suits that would be filled against the construction companies. I believe they knew. After the concrete fell on the bridge in Fall River a few years ago there is no way they could not have considered that possibility here as well.

I could be wrong, but I would bet money that they knew and did nothing.
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:23 PM
Response to Original message
2. Let's see if he pays the price.
He's got a lot of 'splainin' to do.
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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:24 PM
Response to Original message
3. He knew before? or are these tests done after. The article doesn't
state he knew before.
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stepnw1f Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:28 PM
Response to Original message
6. The AG, Tom Reilly Said They Found This Problem
in 1999... but they were installed anyways.
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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:33 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. Right. He also said that they used lighter tiles in the Williams tunnel
They knew. In May they were investigating the bad concrete used as well.

Here's a good timeline at Boston.com

http://www.boston.com/news/specials/big_dig_problems/
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WI_DEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:34 PM
Response to Reply #6
9. if true the former governor should also be held accountable
Was it Weld in '99?
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hughee99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:37 PM
Response to Reply #9
12. Paul Cellucci in 99'
Weld left in 97'
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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:54 PM
Response to Reply #12
14. Don't forget Jane "what helicopter?" Swift
She gets the responsibility for 2001 - 2003.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:32 PM
Response to Original message
7. Hey, more betta fun to talk about his line item veto of tunnel MAINTENANCE
THIRTY ONE MILLION BUCKS....you can find a shitload of epoxied bolts for that kinda dough....

http://www.mass.gov/Agov2/docs/7.8.06.fy2007.budget.actions.pdf

Thanks to our friends at: http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=CAC7B26FDB6CDB5F373AD20C25C5DE8E?diaryId=2830

But the governor himself vetoed $31 million in Central Artery/Tunnel operations and maintenance funding in the just-enacted FY 07 budget. You can find it in his veto message, which is posted on the Gov's Office website. It's line item 1599-1970.

In approving the budget, the conference committe authorized $56 million for a Turnpike Authority reserve for O&M costs incurred in the previous fiscal year. Romney cut that back to $25 million.

Romney has made a number of cold-hearted vetoes in the FY07 budget of money for the poor and disabled. Vetoing O&M money for the Central Artery project is just plain foolish.

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Sydnie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:35 PM
Response to Reply #7
11. I know that he is planning a run for POTUS so I think we need
to start our research and investigation of his years as the absentee govenor now. Having the info at our fingertips will be priceless later.

This whole mess is going to hurt him as long as we don't let them shove it under the rug.
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WilliamPitt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:34 PM
Response to Original message
10. "Bechtel"
Somehow, no one here in Boston is mentioning the contractor.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. More than one contractor on that job, but BECHTEL was LEAD DOG
"Politics created the Big Dig," said Jeffrey Berry, a Tufts University political science professor. "It was a highly political project from the very beginning."
Every major politician in Massachusetts seems to have a connection to the colossal project, creating a tangle of odd alliances across party lines.

Now, the question remains: If so many political leaders have ties to the contractors and project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, how difficult will it be to hold someone accountable for the deadly collapse this past week of 12 tons of ceiling panels from one of the Big Dig tunnels?
"The issue of the Big Dig has become a huge political football and it seems to get bigger and bigger all the time," said Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass.

The Republican ties of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp. — the lead name in the joint venture formed to manage the project — were well-known when it was tapped in 1985 for the Big Dig, formally known as the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel project. Former President Reagan turned to Bechtel for two Cabinet picks, George P. Schultz and Caspar Weinberger.
Over the years, the company and its Big Dig partners have forged strong ties to top state officials and lawmakers in both parties. Former Gov. William Weld's top fundraiser, Peter Berlandi, was also a lobbyist for Bechtel, sparking complaints from Democrats about his dual roles. Weld's campaign account swelled with contributions from Bechtel officials.


Bechtel later hired people like attorney Cheryl Cronin, who had ties to then-acting Gov. Jane Swift, a Republican, and then-House Speaker Thomas Finneran, a Democrat. It hired O'Neill and Associates, one of the state's leading lobbying firms, that was headed by Thomas P. O'Neill III, the son of legendary former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill. Bechtel also turned to veteran Democratic operative Andrew Paven, who could maneuver on Beacon Hill as well as Capitol Hill.
"They're well-connected in Washington and on Beacon Hill," Berry said of Bechtel. "They've been blamed for lots of failures, but the repercussions have been fairly minimal."


http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/07-06/07-16-06/01state-region.htm
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stepnw1f Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 06:32 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. Wow... Thanks for This (nt)
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stepnw1f Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #10
16. Thank You....
I did forget about that.
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nomatrix Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 07:18 PM
Response to Reply #10
18. Stone and Webster /HW Lochner & Berger group
Edited on Mon Jul-17-06 07:29 PM by nomatrix
started the project. This can be found by Google search of Stone and Wester CA/T.

"The Central Artery/Tunnel (CA/T) Project in Boston is the largest, most complex and technologically challenging highway project to be constructed in the core of a major American city. The $10.8 billion project will replace the existing elevated Central Artery (I-93) structure built through downtown Boston in the 1950s with a modern underground expressway designed to carry over 200,000 vehicles per day. The project will also extend the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) to Logan International Airport through the new $1.3 billion Ted Williams Tunnel under Boston Harbor. The greatest challenge in Boston is to construct the project while maintaining traffic flow along the Central Artery and through the narrow streets of historic downtown Boston. The Louis Berger Group (Berger), in a joint venture with HW Lochner and Stone & Webster, was selected to provide design services for the South Bay Interchange where the highly congested I-93 and I-90 meet to form a critical link in the CA/T project. The Berger has provided overall project management, highway and structural design services and utility relocation plans. One of the most innovative features of the project has been the development of a construction staging and traffic management plan to meet the CA/T team's pledge to "keep Boston moving" during construction. The Berger traffic plan included the design and construction of 15,000 feet of temporary roadway, 6,000 feet of temporary bridges and 5,000 feet of retaining wall. Physical relocation of the southbound lanes of I-93 presented an especially daunting traffic management and engineering problem. The solution was an interim viaduct structure that would remain in operation for five years, providing a long-term detour for motorists and a safe construction environment. Furthermore, the complex structure has to be built with minimal disruption to adjacent businesses, very few utility relocations and no adverse impact on historical structures.

The Louis Berger Group is also providing comprehensive construction services for the two major and four other contracts for the multi-level $400 million interchange. In addition to providing regular construction services like review of shop drawings, responses to Requests for Information and review of contractor's value engineering proposals, the CA/T construction effort requires frequent design modifications resulting from needed coordination with numerous adjacent and project-wide contracts, as well as underground obstructions from undocumented piers, wharves and eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings in Boston's historic business district."

Stone and Webster filed chapter 11 and was bought by Shaw Group.

Bechtel with Parsons Brinckerhoff took over as construction managers.

See also precast segments and who was pushing them.
http://www.atypon-link.com/TELF/doi/abs/10.1680/stco.3.4.195.38959

Yes, there are many involved in this project, and some have admitted to their shoddy business practices and materials.

The ones who came up with the original costs, and designs~Stone and Webster, H.W. Lochner and the Berger Group.

Everyone always blames Bechtel.
Will, you might want to do a little investigation into why Stone and Webster filed bankruptcy. Underpricing.
And who bought them, and who they are connected to.


While you are at it, Boston Globe has no problem blaming Bechtel. Who owns the Globe?
I ask you because you live there and probably have a clear picture.
They damaged Kerry...
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh021003.shtml


I take this as a question.."Somehow no one here in Boston is mentioning the contractor"

If you want to know more about engineering and construction, ask people who have been in the business for years. It has changed dramatically in the past 5 years.

The answer to the question you haven't asked is~yes.

Edit to add link to howler.

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Ian David Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jul-17-06 04:56 PM
Response to Original message
15. See related threads


Der Mittenfuhrer Romney vetoed Big Dig O&M funding Click here to hide this thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=158x9376


Mitt’s MIA as bigs dig into tunnel tragedy Click here to hide this thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=158x9375

Thoughts on the Big Dig... Click here to hide this thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=158x9392
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