Boston’s $14B Big Dig Project has had it’s share of problems, including cost overruns, water leaks, allegations of substandard materials and now, collapsing ceiling tiles. On July 10, 2006 some bolts in the Ted Williams Tunnel failed, causing some of those concrete ceiling tiles, weighing 3 tons each to fall, crushing a passing car.

Design News has a number of Special Reports outlining some of the problems with the Big Dig Project and who’s blaming who and/or what. One of those reports, entitled Boston’s Big Dig – One of Engineering’s Biggest Mistakes? goes into some detail on the challenges of suspending said concrete slabs via a few bolts and glue, and the problems that can be expected if not done right. Trumping the discussion of proper gluing techniques, however, is an article in the New York Times that questions why the tiles are there at all, let alone why they weigh so much - Why a Tunnel Has a Drop Ceiling, suggests that the tiles serve no real purpose.

Boston’s Big Dig - Design News, August 10, 2006

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