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Joanne Ray

Big Dig Settles Lawsuit
March 18, 2008

Boston, Mass: Contractors will pay more than $450 million to settle a Massachusetts' lawsuit over a fatal tunnel collapse and to cover the costs of leaks and design flaws in the Big Dig. Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the consortium that oversaw design and construction of the nation's costliest and most complex highway project, has agreed to pay $407 million, U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan said in announcing the deal. Several smaller companies will pay about $51 million.Under the settlement, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff will not face criminal charges in the deadly Interstate 90 tunnel ceiling collapse in July 2006. Milena Del Valle, 39, of Boston, was crushed by 26 tons of concrete as she and her husband drove to Logan International Airport.The deal also does not bar the consortium from receiving future government contracts. Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff was paid more than $2 billion to manage the project.The $14.79 billion Big Dig, which had an initial price tag of $2.6 billion, was plagued by problems and cost overruns during the two decades it took to design and build.The settlement does not have a direct effect on a separate lawsuit filed by Del Valle's family. My comment...We in Boston wonder if the Big Dig fiasco will ever end. What started out as an exciting project has caused more problems than the traffic in Boston itself - including a death. It seems that what took two decades to do will take another two decades to undo.

Posted by Joanne Ray on March 18, 2008 | Comments (0)