As some of you may have heard this morning, a 3 ton slab of concrete fell from the ceiling of one of the tunnels going to the airport in Boston, landing on a car, killing one person and injuring another.
The actual cause of the failure is still under investigation, since this happened at 11pm last night. They do know that one of the ties holding the slab up gave way and this caused a chain reaction that resulted in the rest coming down.
This isn’t the first problem with the Big Dig construction, there have been a host of issues with faulty construction and outright fraud by some of the contractors which has led to the tunnels having flooding problems and who know what else will crop up in the future. This may not be related, it could be just one of those tragic accidents, But the fact that the failure of a single support can cause such a catastrophic failure does not speak highly of the design of the system.
If it turns out to be the result of a shortcut or otherwise callously negligent action by the contractor, like the flooding was, I hope there would be a criminal accounting to bring those to justice just as if they had dropped a bowling ball from the top of the Prudential building and killed someone that way.
Unfortunately, there is little in the way of personal accountability in that kind of situation, due to the nebulous passing of the buck that is commonplace with the Big Dig. Who would go to jail? The likely answer is no one. The company will be fined and the life of a 38 year old woman from Jamaica Plain will be further cheapened with a dollar amount, even as it was cheapened by someone who did not take their responsibility to their fellow human being seriously, because they either wanted to skim money off the top by buying inferior materials, or they just didn’t feel like doing their job competently one day.
My sympathy to the family of the victims, and I hope there is some form of justice in their future that will at least prevent this tragedy from becoming even worse for them.
Well, statistically, it is still safer than swimming in the Bermuda Triangle.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Posted by Nada at 10:18 AM
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11 comments:
You talkin' to me? ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?
I have worked for Engineer companies in the past and there are 2 different situations here
1. Engineers called good materials and the contructor neglected to comply because he wanted to save money in materials.
2. Engineers didn't desinged or called the right materials.
nomatter 1st or 2nd option.. is always the Engineer's fault, because the Engineer is always in carge to go check and test the materials Himself. No matter if he had to hire the construction comapany.
Now as for cheapen the cost of a life, yeah Insurance "Always" will try to settle out of court, First question the Insurance will ask is not , Who's fault is this? the 1st question is, How much do you want?
Well, I must disagree about the behavior of insurance defense attorneys. They always want to know who is at fault, becasue if it isn't the person they are insuring, then they don't have to pay anything. And it isn't always the engineer's fault because it can always be the architects fault. If the design itself was faulty, it doesn't matter if all the materials were up to grade and they were all installed properly.
So, it could be the architect, the engineer, the general contractor, the sub contractor, or who knows what else.
Then, whoever is at fault, their insurance defense attorney will make an offer to settle the wrongful death claim. One third will go to the Plaintiff's attorney, but none of it will go to the state - it's tax free.
It will be VERY interesting to see where the Big Dig stands 10 years from now . . .
Anyone ever seen "Engineering Disasters" on the History Channel?
"They always want to know who is at fault, becasue if it isn't the person they are insuring, then they don't have to pay anything. And it isn't always the engineer's fault because it can always be the architects fault"
^Oh what I posted is specifically what is done after this, obviously when the victim is coming to the person's insurer...(Engineer's Insurance) they won't hesitate in asking How much? because a law suit involved way more money and is a long process that they don't want to deal with... I tell you for an insurance company, any lawyer is a headache, they are a biger headache than their insured himself. lol rarely an Insurance Co. will want to get into investigate, all they want is to get lawyers off their back, but I woudn't deny that sometimes they will investigate, usually with life insurance issues, they investigate a lot.
I drove through that tunnel 8 hours before it collapsed.
I'm loving my job more and more lately.
Damn, I missed the Angry Piper. What time driving through tomorrow?
Here's some good news:
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said Tuesday he is treating the concrete collapse in a Big Dig tunnel that killed a motorist as a crime scene that could lead to charges of negligent homicide.
Reilly's office already has begun issuing subpoenas to those involved in the design, manufacturing, testing, construction and oversight of the panels and tunnel.
Oh yeah, the Tom Reilly who is running for governer, in last plave in the primaries, looking for any hot item to attach to his name.
The same Tom Reilly who is a MA political insider.
oh, it is that tom reilly.
i hate that guy
DUVAL PATRICK FOR GOVERNOR!
1999, a large 12 tons section of concrete fell onto I-195 in Fall River from underneath the short tunnel under Government Center. No one was killed but several cars were damaged. Eerily similar. What happened? The steel ties failed. Difference this tunnel was bulit in the 1960's, and we all know what kind of shape our tunnels and bridges are in from the 1960's.
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