Many more flaws detected; Romney to take over probe

Loose ceiling fixtures number in hundreds

Ironworkers placed a concrete ceiling panel onto a flatbed truck for removal yesterday in the eastbound Interstate 90 connector tunnel. (Globe Staff Photo / Bill Greene)

More than 240 loose ceiling bolt fixtures are scattered throughout the Interstate 90 connector tunnel, said Turnpike Authority officials, who announced yesterday that the tunnel could remain closed for weeks as engineers determine whether to repair or replace the tunnel's drop ceiling.

The suspect bolts were holding up bulky concrete ceiling panels over every lane of the heavily traveled tunnel, where panels collapsed Monday night, killing Milena Del Valle. Law enforcement officials investigating the 38-year-old Jamaica Plain woman's death are focused on the failure of bolt-and-epoxy fixtures.

Despite the existing federal and state investigations, lawmakers on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill -- facing unprecedented public outcry over the Big Dig's most recent and tragic failure -- called for additional probes.

Governor Mitt Romney demanded and received legislative approval yesterday for his administration to take over safety inspections of the connector tunnel and to decide when and if it can reopen to traffic. The bill approved by the House and Senate last night also calls for a $20 million ``stem to stern" safety review of the Central Artery system.

Also, the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation asked federal safety officials yesterday to launch a separate inquiry into Del Valle's death and to inspect all the Big Dig tunnels. The National Transportation Safety Board quickly dispatched a six-member civil engineering group to Boston to inspect the accident scene and determine whether a full-scale investigation is warranted.

The Turnpike Authority has started its own inspections of all Big Dig tunnels.

Even before the investigations are complete, a Wall Street rating firm said the $14.6 billion Big Dig's latest troubles could mean taxpayers will have to pay even more to cover the project's costs. Moody's Investors Service officials said they were considering downgrading the project's credit rating, which means the future cost of borrowing for the project could rise.

The problems with the connector tunnel went unnoticed until after Monday night, when the car Del Valle was riding in to Logan International Airport was crushed by two ceiling panel sections that had come loose.

Each panel was secured to the top of the I-90 connector tunnel by bolt fixtures that include the bolts, epoxy, and metal plates. Tieback rods hang from the plate and suspend steel beams supporting the concrete panels.

The bolts were inserted into holes drilled in the ceiling, then glued into place using high-strength epoxy. When properly installed, the metal plates are tightly flush against the tunnel's ceiling. The suspect bolts are in places where gaps between the plates and ceiling are at least one-sixteenth of an inch.

Yesterday, work crews finished removing the remaining 10 ceiling panel sections, which engineers call modules, from the eastbound I-90 connector tunnel. Each panel was cataloged by law enforcement officials who are working alongside Turnpike Authority crews to build a potential criminal case. The work crews also plan to remove eight panel sections from above the westbound lanes and 10 from above the high-occupancy vehicle lanes.

Turnpike Authority inspectors conducting visual examinations of the ceiling found 50 problem bolt fixtures in the eastbound section, 10 fewer than the number the Turnpike Authority had estimated on Wednesday. The westbound section had 68, the HOV lane 45, and two exit ramps had a total of 79.

Michael P. Lewis, the state's Big Dig project director, said the faulty fixtures ``will all be subject to engineering review and analysis and an appropriate remediation plan that we will work out with federal highway administration and all other transportation agencies" before the tunnel reopens to traffic.

Big Dig chief engineer Michael Swanson explained yesterday that the 242 problematic bolts were visually identified by small gaps between the steel plate and the ceiling. He said officials did not know whether any of these had endangered motorists.

Work crews have no plans yet to remove any of the panels beyond the 200-foot section at the tunnel's lip, where Del Valle died and where the panels might not be necessary as part of the tunnel's ventilation system. Instead, they began erecting scaffolds yesterday to hold up the panels outside that 200-foot zone while engineers determine what steps are required to guarantee that the panels will not fall on drivers when the tunnel is reopened.

``We don't think there's a problem," Swanson said. ``We're being extra, extra careful in view of what happened earlier this week."

But Romney cast doubt on the Turnpike Authority's ongoing inspections yesterday, saying the Big Dig agency had a conflict-of-interest in inspecting its own troubled work. ``The current leadership of the Turnpike Authority has lost the public's confidence plain and simple," Romney said at a press conference announcing his legislation.

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi said yesterday that he supported Romney's push.

``We feel that a review of the safety and integrity of this entire project needs to be done immediately and we need to have some confidence in the ability of independent groups, agencies, and experts to make the determination that the construction is sound and safe for all of us," he said. ``We want to make sure that that is done as quickly as possible and as appropriately as possible."

But even outside critics and investigators have potential conflicts of interest.

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, who is leading the state's criminal investigation, is running for governor, as is Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, who has appeared alongside Romney all week.

In addition, J. Richard Capka, new head administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, which is also investigating the accident, was the director of the Big Dig from 2000 to 2002.

US Representative Michael E. Capuano, a Somerville Democrat who joined his Massachusetts congressional colleagues in requesting that the National Transportation Safety Board start an investigation, said the agency could be better trusted than these officials.

``They would be the most neutral, professional investigators capable of giving us honest answers with not even the hint of a conflict of interest," Capuano said.

With the I-90 connector possibly closed for several weeks, officials at New York-based Moody's, which sets bond ratings for investors, said the Central Artery project's income could decrease.

``If it's a prolonged closure, the [I-90 connector] tunnel repesents about 30 percent of toll revenues," said Maria Matesanz, senior vice president of infrastructure finance at Moody's. ``We're looking at what the impact on traffic and revenues."

The Turnpike Authority is $2.2 billion in debt. If Moody's were to downgrade its credit rating, future borrowing could become more expensive for the taxpayer-funded agency.

Moody's officials are also worried that repair costs for the I-90 tunnel could also hurt the Big Dig's bottom line.

Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com, and Sean P. Murphy at smurphy@globe.com