Nationwide search begun for other flawed tunnels

Federal highway officials have sent out a nationwide appeal seeking to identify other tunnels that rely on the same bolt-and-epoxy ceiling fasteners whose failure is now being eyed as the cause of the Big Dig tunnel tragedy.

In an e-mail sent Thursday to state government officials, engineers, and other tunnel specialists, a Federal Highway Administration official wrote: ``I want to know if any of your tunnels have epoxy anchor bolts as part of the support system for your suspended ceiling, jet fans, sign supports, or other equipment." The memo also solicited sketches and photos.

Federal officials would not say how they intend to use the information, nor would they discuss any responses they had received.

The collapse of massive concrete ceiling panels onto a car in the Interstate 90 connector on Monday night has reverberated across the nation, with state officials scrutinizing their own tunnels for problems with the bolt-and-epoxy system.

``We are all redoubling our efforts to make sure our ceiling systems are sound," said Doug MacDonald, secretary of transportation for Washington State, where a tunnel at the western end of I-90 uses the system.

Yesterday, Governor Mitt Romney spent his first full day at the helm of the massive investigation into the I-90 connector and the entire Central Artery project.

Romney said that visual inspections of all bolt-and-epoxy fasteners were 80 to 90 percent complete and that 136 new problems of ``potential concern" have been discovered in the connector tunnel, in addition to the more than 220 loose bolt fixtures that had already been disclosed. He said the new problems might include misisng bolts or connector rods.

``Every single one of these is going to be evaluated, tested, considered, and remediated if necessary," he said.

Romney said the process could take weeks or more, as inspectors conduct so-called pull tests on the loose bolts, where a device simulates weights greater than that of the concrete ceiling panels the fixtures anchor.

Late Thursday, the Legislature voted to give Romney control of the state investigation into the tunnel ceiling collapse and the sweeping Big Dig probe it prompted. For years, Romney had pressured lawmakers and the courts for greater power over the Turnpike Authority, to no avail. But after the death of Milena Del Valle when tunnel panels fell Monday night, the Legislature unanimously gave Romney the power, within hours of his request.

``I'm happy to take blame if I have responsiblity," the governor said yesterday.

The Legislature's move effectively reduced Turnpike Authority chairman Matthew J. Amorello's powers, and Romney began the day yesterday by meeting with authority officials, minus Amorello. Romney then skipped a meeting with Boston transportation officials where he was scheduled to appear alongside Amorello.

At his own press conference later in the day, Romney said he would make the final call on when the I-90 tunnel is safe and can reopen, a decision that once rested with Amorello.

``We just don't know at this point" when the connector will reopen, Romney said. ``Safety is our first concern."

Referring to the investigation of the ceiling collapse, he said the probe was focused on the bolt -and-epoxy fasteners, but he would not comment on the precise fixture-failure scenarios that investigators are considering. They include improper installation of the epoxy and bolts and design flaws.

``It's not for us to speculate on what might be the possible cause," said Romney. ``We know that there was a failure, and there were a number of possible sources of that failure."

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly has said that the Turnpike Authority knew at least seven years ago that the bolt-and-epoxy system occasionally failed, citing a series of 1999 field tests that revealed at least five bolts had failed in the connector.

Michael Lewis, the Central Artery project director, confirmed yesterday that fixtures required inspection, saying ``the bolts would have required a pull-out test at the time."

He said Turnpike Authority officials were reviewing their records to determine whether Reilly's statement was accurate and, if so, whether anything was done about the problem then.

Reilly has also said that tests indicate that the bolts that held the ceiling panels that killed Del Valle came out of their holes cleanly, indicating that the epoxy bond holding them in place had failed.

``We began this investigation to find out why two panels fell," said Reilly in a statement yesterday. ``Now we're astonished dozens more haven't fallen. It's clear this system failed, with catastrophic results. We're questioning every aspect of it, from design to installation to testing to inspection."

Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, lead contractor on the Big Dig, defended the use of the bolts and epoxy system in the I-90 connector yesterday.

``Supporting concrete ceiling panels by anchoring bolts to the roof with epoxy adhesive is widely and successfully used throughout the construction industry," said a company statement. ``The investigation of this tragic accident is still at an early stage. To determine the causes requires a thorough forensic analysis of design, methods, materials, procedures, and documentation."

Lewis said the 200-plus loose bolts that were discovered this week throughout the I-90 connector tunnel ceiling caused the metal fixture plates that should have been bolted flush against the tunnel ceiling to hang off the ceiling by up to three-eighths of an inch. These will be the subject of pull tests in coming days, he said.

State officials also revealed that the still-open Ted Williams Tunnel, the only other part of the Big Dig to extensively use the bolt-and-epoxy system, was found to have only 11 suspect bolts among the more than 12,000 used in the tunnel. Romney said that the tunnel would not need repairs or closing, because the number of suspect fixtures was so low and because they were holding up lighter ceiling panels, made partly of ceramic tiles, than those in the I-90 connector.

Work crews are in the process of removing all the ceiling panels from a 200-foot section of the I-90 connector near where Del Valle died. Engineering consultants are studying whether the panels, which form part of a ventilation system in the tunnel, will need to be replaced.

Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Administration, which is investigating the incident alongside state law enforcement officers, issued a nationwide appeal Thursday to specialists familiar with the bolt-and-epoxy system, as part of the I-90 connector investigation, said an FHA spokesman.

The e-mail from FHA official Jesus Rohena said: ``I am looking for details of suspended ceiling attachments to the tunnel roof in your tunnels."

Rohena refused comment yesterday.

US Representative Michael E. Capuano, a Somerville Democrat, said the highway agency was taking proper precautions.

``If there's a problem with the design, then they have to know where else it's being used," he said. ``They're doing the right thing."

Del Valle's death and the subsequent publicity about bolt-and-epoxy problems have alarmed transit and highway officals around the nation. MacDonald, who was once executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and now oversees an I-90 tunnel in Seattle that has a bolt-and-epoxy-secured ceiling, said the tragedy has spurred his agency to reexamine that tunnel.

``We are going back and pulling out drawings and checking the specifications and seeing when the last inspections were done," he said. ``We're not closing roads at this point and putting inspectors in the ceiling. We are using this experience to make sure our own house is in order."

Jonathan Saltzman of the Globe staff contributed to this report.