Woman Killed in Boston Tunnel

Ah, good old corrupt, union labor at its finest...

BOSTON - Falling concrete slabs crushed a car inside one of the city's troubled Big Dig tunnels, killing a woman and tying up traffic Tuesday with another shutdown in the massive building project that has become a central route through the city.

The car's driver was able to crawl through a window to escape, but his passenger was killed when the massive, 3-ton concrete panels fell, authorities said. {snip}

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew Amorello said Tuesday he doesn't believe safety is compromised elsewhere in the tunnel system, but the damaged section was closed indefinitely for repairs and inspections.

The ceiling panels fell because a steel tieback, holding a 40-foot ceiling section in place, gave way, Amorello said. {snip}

"Any responsible party will be held accountable for what happened," Amorello said. "This is an unacceptable, horrible tragedy."

He said the contractor was Modern Continental. There was no answer early Tuesday at the company's office.

The $14 billion Big Dig highway project, which buried Interstate 93 beneath downtown and extended the Massachusetts Turnpike to Logan Airport, has been criticized for construction problems and cost overruns. There have been water leaks and at least one incident when dirt and debris from an airshaft fell onto cars.

In May, prosecutors charged six current and former employees of a concrete supplier with fraud for allegedly concealing that some concrete delivered to the Big Dig was not freshly mixed.

Look for the Union label...and then run, run for your life.