Boston's Big Dig has gone in the history books as one of the largest infrastructure improvements ever attempted as well as one of the biggest blunders ever tolerated. For every cubic yard of concrete poured, one can find an official's speech or a journalist's article condemning the Big Dig's execution.
Construction Begins
Limited amounts of traffic were allowed through the tunnel in December 1995 and its usage steadily increased over the following eight years. Full access to the Ted Williams Tunnel to all forms of traffic came with the completion of the connection between the tunnel and the newly constructed I-90 Massachusetts Turnpike extension in January 2003.
The tunnel burrows under the surface for 1.6 miles, of which three quarters of a mile is lies under the harbor. It was constructed by sinking 12 steel tubes each a football field in length and connecting them in a trench in the Boston Harbor floor. The finished tunnel received the Biennial Award for “Excellence in Highway Design” from the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration in 1996.
Unlike other grand marvels of transportation such as the English Channel Tunnel, the Panama Canal, or the Alaskan Pipeline, this massive undertaking had to be completed in a highly populated area and could not greatly interrupt the economic or residential activities of the city. One fourth of the project’s over-inflated budget was consumed in extra efforts to make construction as unobtrusive to the city’s populace as possible.
Positive Results
In 2009, 18 years after the Big Dig’s beginnings, the project’s accomplishments and failures can now be examined in hindsight. First and foremost, the creation of the subterranean highway system alleviated the Boston’s infamous traffic congestion problem. In addition to the obvious, this project has successfully achieved numerous other secondary goals that have improved life in Boston. Prior to the destruction of the elevated Central Artery, many neighborhoods were separated from the city’s heart. With the expressway under their feet, many Bostonians can now easily travel along reconnected surface streets to and fro the entire city.
Air quality has improved dramatically with the reduction of idle traffic, and carbon monoxide emissions have decreased by 12%. Placing the highways underground has also led to the creation of 260 acres of open land to assist in city beautification. 27 acres of greenway has been constructed where the Central Artery once stood, and the use of excavated dirt to cap old landfills has created 40 new acres of parks and open spaces.
Drawbacks
However, this marvel of engineering has not always been in a white light. The Big Dig has incurred more bad press than any construction project ever. At $12 billion over its allocated budget of $2.6 billion (460% over budget) the contractors, engineers, and politicians behind the project have been called everything from incompetent to corrupt. By the time the legislated funds ran out, the project was too far along to quit or reverse, and Boston taxpayers had no choice but to grant the increases to finish the work.
As the project came into the home stretch of completion, Bostonians began to forget their issues with the massive undertaking. However, controversy resurfaced heavier than ever in July, 2006 when a 12 ton concrete slab collapsed on a female commuter in one of the tunnels. Even today, the Big Dig still sparks headlines questioning the need for such massive projects, and it has become the poster example of government overspending.
