how many drunks does it take to build a tunnel?

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07-11-2006, 07:19 AM
strawjack

how many drunks does it take to build a tunnel?

w/ engineering today we can't build a f'n tunnel that won't fall down! this just pisses me off!

Boston Tunnel Connector Closed Following Fatal Collapse
One Woman Killed When Part Of Tunnel Ceiling Fell

POSTED: 7:03 am EDT July 11, 2006
UPDATED: 8:04 am EDT July 11, 2006

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Boston, Mass. -- A woman was killed when 3-ton concrete panels fell from the ceiling of a Big Dig tunnel and crushed the car she was riding in late Monday night, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials said. The driver was not seriously injured.

A steel tieback that held the 40-foot ceiling section in place over Interstate 90 eastbound gave way, Authority Chairman Matthew Amorello said. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Photographs of the aftermath showed large slabs sloped down the tunnel wall and across a lane of the roadway.

"There was a snapping sound heard," Amorello said at an early-morning news conference Tuesday. "One of the tile panels from the roof released. It caused a series of panels to be released."

Amorello ordered both sides of the highway section closed for immediate inspections of any similar panels. He called in a team from the Federal Highway Administration to assist.

Cars traveling to the airport are being detoured to the Callahan Tunnel. Cars traveling from the airport can ride on the Ted Williams Tunnel before being detoured at South Boston.
07-11-2006, 07:20 AM
Tippster

I knew it'd be about the Big Dig as soon as I read the title. That thing's an embarrassment.
07-11-2006, 07:25 AM
P_McPoser

That's what happens when you have a bunch of civil engineers trying to do a mining engineer's job...
07-11-2006, 07:33 AM
Tuckerman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tippster

I knew it'd be about the Big Dig as soon as I read the title. That thing's an embarrassment.

That was the I90 the Big Dig is the I93 right?
07-11-2006, 07:37 AM
Obstruction

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuckerman

That was the I90 the Big Dig is the I93 right?

Nah, the whole fucking abomination is the big dig. Man am I disgusted. You can't buy much for $14 billion any more.
07-11-2006, 08:05 AM
Tectonically_Neglected

Quote:

Originally Posted by P_McPoser

That's what happens when you have a bunch of civil engineers trying to do a mining engineer's job...

Glück Auf!
07-11-2006, 08:14 AM
JMan

every tunnel in boston is so sketchy. the tunnel on storrow drive northbound is a joke.
07-11-2006, 09:17 AM
Incompetent Boob

Is the big dig finished yet? I remember the first time I was in Boston 4 years ago locals complaining how long it had taken and it was going to take much more. It seemed to be still going last time I was there too.
07-11-2006, 09:20 AM
shmerham

Well, it appears as though this is not a result of the tunnel-diggers, but I've heard some interesting stories about that union from multiple people. Apparently they're allowed 2 beers during the workday as part of the bargaining agreement. Beyond that though, it's supposedly anarchy in the tunnels that are being dug. Diggers are on pretty much any drug you can imagine. This I suppose is not that surprising as the union recruits from the prisons.

On the topic, someone I know was an operating engineer for the coolant pumps they used when they froze the ground. His job was to call the service engineer if an alarm went off. It went off once in 6 months and he made $37/hr doing this. He said he read and slept a lot. It was loud enough to wake anyone up, so being asleep wasn't a concern.
07-11-2006, 09:29 AM
cmsummit

Quote:

Originally Posted by shmerham

Diggers are on pretty much any drug you can imagine.

a guy I know worked as a laborer on the Eisenhower tunnel and said that taking lsd and working 12 hour shifts was a common occurrence:confused:
07-11-2006, 09:35 AM
P_McPoser

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmsummit

a guy I know worked as a laborer on the Eisenhower tunnel and said that taking lsd and working 12 hour shifts was a common occurrence:confused:

Drugs and alcohol in mining related occupations?!! NEVER! :wink: That's what happens when you live in a rural town with nothing to do and make 150k/year. Meanwhile the poor, sad, underappreciated engineers are lucky to ever get to that kind of pay grade in their lifes. :)

As far as this incident, it would most likely be attributed to inadequete engineering (which the big dig REEKS of), or lax qa/qc on ground support intstallations.
07-11-2006, 09:42 AM
JMan

the original chief engineers in charge of the big dig were fired b/c they said it wasnt safe and wouldnt pass inspection. i guess they just hired some randoms and give the a-ok.
07-11-2006, 10:09 AM
P_McPoser

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMan

the original chief engineers in charge of the big dig were fired b/c they said it wasnt safe and wouldnt pass inspection. i guess they just hired some randoms and give the a-ok.

That's why the big dig costs so much. Not cheap to convince someone to sign off on something unsafe? Whoever signed off should have their PE pulled and be sent to prison. :nonono2:
07-11-2006, 10:11 AM
JMan

i love when parts of the big dig is shut down b/b there is a few feet of water in the road. on a positive note, it is so easy to get to the airport now.
07-11-2006, 10:12 AM
MassLiberal

Quote:

Originally Posted by P_McPoser

That's why the big dig costs so much. Not cheap to convince someone to sign off on something unsafe? Whoever signed off should have their PE pulled and be sent to prison. :nonono2:

That and it was contracted by Bechtel, the same people who are bringing you the Iraq War....
07-11-2006, 10:13 AM
cmsummit

as a civil engineer, I find that most failures/screw-ups are due to the inability to build/construct a project to design standards- qa/qc. i've shut projects down because the contractor was basically "winging it" and not following plans/design.

I wouldn't want to be the P.E. who put his final stamp of approval on that Big Dig.;)
07-11-2006, 10:54 AM
strawjack

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmsummit

a guy I know worked as a laborer on the Eisenhower tunnel and said that taking lsd and working 12 hour shifts was a common occurrence:confused:

ya, same can be said about the Seabrook, NH nuke plant. christ, they had a drug & alcohol rehabilitation trailer on-site! just gives me a warm a fussy feeling :nonono2:
07-11-2006, 11:10 AM
slim

This thread is so full of shit it smells like a dairy.
07-11-2006, 11:44 AM
BCR

Quote:

Originally Posted by slim

This thread is so full of shit it smells like a dairy.

Agreed

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmerham

Apparently they're allowed 2 beers during the workday as part of the bargaining agreement.

This is true of the Boston Sewer workers, NOT the big dig workers. Close tho.
07-11-2006, 11:56 AM
K-Stormchaser

Quote:

Originally Posted by BCR

Agreed

This is true of the Boston Sewer workers, NOT the big dig workers. Close tho.

Boston news stations have done a number of stories on Big Dig workers going out and tying one on at lunch. Cameras followed them from the jobsite to the bar, filmed them drinking 8 beers or 6 martinis or whatever, and then confronted them on the way out. Im sure they didnt get wind of it until the problem was well rooted.

On another note, a buddy of mine did QA/QC for concrete work on the big dig as his first job out of high school. He marked panels with defects to be fixed/replaced. He said the union guys would follow behind him, erasing all the marks he made. Being only 19 and intimidated by the 4 huge guys trailing him around, his QC work was worthless.
07-11-2006, 11:59 AM
Steven S. Dallas

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuckerman

That was the I90 the Big Dig is the I93 right?

Extending the turnpike to Logan was a big part of the project, and probably the most important. Before that, Logan was the biggest airport in North America that did not have direct highway access.

Somebody is going to get fucking crushed in a lawsuit here, and they're probably going to deserve it.
07-11-2006, 12:00 PM
JMan

dont make it sound like the big dig workers are the only contruction workers getting fucked up on the job. if there was a problem with the concrete and safety of it then the upper management should have done something. the big dig is a big joke from the labor bitches all the way to the top.
07-11-2006, 12:33 PM
Tuckerman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven S. Dallas

Extending the turnpike to Logan was a big part of the project, and probably the most important. Before that, Logan was the biggest airport in North America that did not have direct highway access.

Somebody is going to get fucking crushed in a lawsuit here, and they're probably going to deserve it.

Got it, I think they were trying to seperate the Big Dig with falling chunks of tunnel this morning not that it matters.
07-11-2006, 01:20 PM
iceman

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawjack

gives me a warm a fussy feeling

Like a baby with a fever?
07-11-2006, 01:49 PM
strawjack

Quote:

Originally Posted by slim

This thread is so full of shit it smells like a dairy.

what union do you work for?
07-11-2006, 02:27 PM
P_McPoser

Quote:

Originally Posted by MassLiberal

That and it was contracted by Bechtel, the same people who are bringing you the Iraq War....

AKA 1 of very very few contractors large enough to attempt such a project.
07-11-2006, 02:37 PM
MassLiberal

Quote:

Originally Posted by P_McPoser

AKA 1 of very very few contractors large enough to attempt such a project.

Big enough to fuck up the handling of both.
07-11-2006, 02:42 PM
Stu Gotz

I can't comment on the big dig, but I do watch some of those modern marvels shows on the discovery channel, and when those engineers figure out how to put up some of that shizzy, I say to myself, "That's the teets, mon."
07-11-2006, 03:07 PM
P_McPoser

Quote:

Originally Posted by MassLiberal

Big enough to fuck up the handling of both.

I'll go ahead and blame the government. Since we have to blame people. :biggrin:
07-11-2006, 03:13 PM
Steven S. Dallas

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu Gotz

I can't comment on the big dig, but I do watch some of those modern marvels shows on the discovery channel, and when those engineers figure out how to put up some of that shizzy, I say to myself, "That's the teets, mon."

Did you see the Big Dig one? Fucking incredible; had me talking in a bad Jamaican accent for a week.
07-11-2006, 03:28 PM
Stu Gotz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven S. Dallas

Did you see the Big Dig one? Fucking incredible; had me talking in a bad Jamaican accent for a week.

While on the surface the comment "That's the teets, mon" may seem Jamaican, I actually pronounce the words like a man who was born in Jamaica but spent most of his life in Curacao.

Subtle, yet important difference. Especially with customs.
07-11-2006, 03:41 PM
Steven S. Dallas

Despite your failure to provide a cedilla, I assume that by "Curacao" you are referring to one of the three large islands of the Netherlands Antilles, the capital of which is Willemstad, and the most famous citizen currently playing in the NL East of which is Andruw Jones. Proceeding from that assumption, I say: absolutely right, sir. And I also say that, the sooner the tunnel connecting Boston to the south Caribbean is completed, the better.

Have a nice day, mon!
07-11-2006, 03:49 PM
iceman

Unfortunately I don't have access to a cedilla, but when people get on that "Why is there no blue food?" rant I always point them to the signature liqueur of the island of Curacao. The fact that it is not a food but a beverage is, I believe, secondary.

Perhaps tertiary.