More Nails and a Bigger Hammer...

OK, first of all just let me say that I'm actually a big fan of the Big Dig. But I have the unusual experience of having left Boston in 1981 (just before it all got started) and returning again in 2003 (when the project was basically finished, if not completed). So I managed to miss most of the hassle and expense and controversy surrounding its construction, and simply get to compare "Before" and "After." And let me tell you, After is way better. Never mind how much easier it is to get in and out of the airport (not that I go to the airport that often anyway; and when I do, I still generally take the Blue Line when I can...or, better yet, ride the commuter rail into North Station, and then the water taxi to Logan). But even unfinished, the Rose Kennedy Greenway is a HUGE improvement over the John Fitzgerald Expressway. Even though the improved access has threatened to turn the entire North End into a giant summer frat party.

Over the past year or so, persistent water leaks in the various tunnels running under Boston Harbor have been a matter of great embarrassment for Big Dig Big Wigs, and likewise a matter of no little concern for those of us for whom the claustaphobic image of being drowned in our automobiles while simultaneously trapped and buried deep underground is just a little too vivid for comfort. And now comes an even more tangible danger: apparently the glue (that's right, epoxy is a glue) used to hold the three TON concrete ceiling panels to the ceiling of the tunnel isn't quite up to the job. Four of these panels have already come loose, killing a young woman in the process, and the subsequent political kerfuffle, blame passing, and finger pointing have risen to national proportions (mostly, it seems, because Republican Governor Mitt Romney has Presidential political aspirations, and is looking for an opportunity to appear strong and decisive by crucifying a scapegoat and then washing his hands of the matter).

But here's the thing that kills me. What is the proposed solution to this complicated engineering problem? Something worthy of my grandmother -- Basically, the governor's commission is recommending creating "redundancy" in the system by reinforcing the existing epoxied connectors with high tech hanger bolts similar to what one might use to hang a picture frame on dry wall. That's right: more nails and a bigger hammer. Damn! I KNEW I should have been an engineer....