From Today's Globe
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State engineers worked yesterday to repair ceiling bolt fixtures in two new locations along a Big Dig route connecting South Boston to Logan International Airport, last-minute fixes as state officials push to reopen the crucial thoroughfare.
The route, which goes from a South Boston ramp to the Ted Williams Tunnel eastbound, may still reopen this week, said state transportation officials.
But after meeting with federal highway officials currently inspecting ongoing Big Dig repairs, state engineers decided over the weekend to order repairs to 23 ceiling panel fixtures above the South Boston ramp and to a single ceiling fixture in the eastbound Ted Williams Tunnel.
``We had planned to do the work at a later date, but the thinking became that we should do it now, while the closures are still in place," said Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the state's Executive Office of Transportation.
A series of other fixes to the ceiling along the South Boston-to-Logan route were completed last week. But federal safety officials must approve them, as well as the work done last night, before the route can reopen.
Carlisle said state transportation officials were optimistic that the new repairs would get federal approval. ``We don't anticipate this should have an impact on the overall schedule on the opening, but we can't be certain," he said. ``We're working to get it done as quickly as possible with our federal partners."
Brian C. Keeter, a spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, which must sign off on its reopening, said, ``We continue to work with state transportation officials . . . to reopen the closed tunnels as soon as it's safe to do so."
To accommodate work crews, the Ted Williams Tunnel, currently open only to Silver Line and Logan Express buses, was closed to all traffic beginning at 6 last night. It was expected to reopen to the buses this morning upon completion of the work.
In the South Boston ramp, crews installed five-bolt ceiling panel fixtures to replace the original four-bolt ones. None involved the epoxy-secured system that failed on the Interstate 90 connector on July 10, killing Milena Del Valle. The new bolts instead were secured to a thick metal rail embedded in the ceiling. No problems had been detected with the original fixtures, but engineers had decided weeks ago that a five-bolt fixture should be installed for maximum support of the panels.
The second location where work was done last night was in the Ted Williams Tunnel eastbound. Work crews installed new anchor-tipped bolts to strengthen a single epoxy-secured ceiling fixture that had come slightly loose.
The repair work done to date on the South Boston-to-Logan route represents only 10 percent of overall work still to be done on closed Big Dig sections, including a tunnelwide overhaul of the ceiling in the Interstate-90 connector. Also pending is Governor Mitt Romney's so-called ``stem to stern" audit of the entire Central Artery project.
The Romney adminstration is selecting from among six engineering firms specializing in public works disasters, including one that helped New York City recover from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. No choice has been made, said a Romney spokesman. The administration is also in the process of assembling a five-member panel that will examine the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversaw the Big Dig.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
