On 15 September, the route I-93 section of Boston’s “Big Dig” scheme sprang a leak in the slurry wall. Reports said that a 200mm diameter hole appeared in the eastern wall of the northbound tunnel and that the resulting flood of water in the tunnel backed up traffic for several kilometres. A spokesman for the Bechtel/Parsons Brinkerhoff consortium that manages construction of the Big Dig Central Artery project said that the hole did not compromise the structural integrity of the tunnel. When T&TI contacted a spokesman for the owner, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), he added that the leak was fixed within 48 hours. He said: “The Turnpike Authority has since undertaken a widescale investigation to ensure there are no other portions of the slurry wall system that are vulnerable to the same issues.” The Boston Globe newspaper reported comments from Edward Ginsburg, appointed by the state last year to lead the team reviewing the US$14.6bn project for possible refunds from contractors: “When you have an underground facility, you expect some leaks. There is no such thing as a dry tunnel. But one would expect it would be reasonably dry.”
