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Concrete ceiling pieces crashing to the ground force shutdown of Silver Line tunnel
By adamg on Wed, 04/04/2018 - 4:38pm
State officials shut the Silver Line tunnel in the waterfront area today after "loose pieces of concrete" fell from the ceiling at the World Trade Center station onto the inbound platform. MassDOT blames "ongoing construction activity on Congress Street" right near the station.
MassDOT says Silver Line buses will now use already clogged surface roads to make their rounds.
The MBTA has ordered an engineering assessment to determine the extent of any structural damage that may have been caused by the adjacent construction project. Out of an abundance of caution for T customers and employees, the MBTA has closed the Silver Line tunnel from South Station to Silver Line Way until that assessment is complete. There were no known injuries as a result of this incident.
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Comments
BS it just piss poor maintenance.
South Station, Ruggles and Forest Hills all have dilapidated ceilings and platforms. Nothing will ever change until pension obligations are under control.
Innundation District
Construction isn't the only thing that has happened to Congress Street recently ... I seem to remember that there were a couple of situations where the Harbor didn't stay in its lane?
The Silver Line is 15 years old.
It's also a problem with poured concrete. I don't think "maintenance" is a big issue. (The quality of the concrete used in those Big Dig days is another issue). But yes, its those darn pension obligations again. Of Course. Btw do you have any thoughts on getting them "under control" besides stealing peoples retirement from them? We'll wait.
And poor construction
Everything built during the Dukakis era and post Dukakis era is junk. The Red Line tunnel north of Harvard and the Braintree extension breakdown all the time. The state should put its funding into existing system repair
And when was this tunnel built?
Or specifically, who was governor when this tunnel was built?
Here's a useful question for you
When did Dukakis crap the bed when it came to transportation. He had successes and failures. Name at least one failure.
You’re asking the wrong guy, buddy
Ask the other anon.
Of course, 5his instance wasn’t even the T’s fault.
Look out for falling objects
The legacy of the Big Dig lives on.
http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/07/10/w...
Faster if I walk. Thanks MBTA
Faster if I walk. Thanks MBTA!
Quality design and construction
Sarcasm off.
Lost secrets of the ancients
# 233: How to build a tunnel that doesn't fall apart in a few years.
Right before PAX East.
Right before PAX East.
Excellent, excellent.
Just throw in Michelle Obama speaking next door and you have yourself a stew.
Oh noes!
Gamers may have to walk.
Hey now!
...that's just evil.....but you've given me grin-cramps.
Hire police details to speed up traffic
BPD and State Police have agreed to a peace treaty over their silly jurisdictional war and they can work together to keep the buses moving.
Not yet, they haven't
The governor suggested it, but that's not the same thing - it'll take an act of the legislature to undo the law that now gives State Police jurisdiction over that area (I wonder if Transit Police could jump in, though).
More like an act of God.
More like an act of God. They've been duking it out for years. :-) Maybe now with the Staties being under the gun it'll be easier for Boston to patrol the area? I don't live in the area but if I did, I know that if I dialed 911 I'd prefer BPD to show up.
Police details are a joke. They don't exist outside MA.
All police details should be replaced by civilian flaggers. Details are just a cash cow....with the cost passed onto the citizen through higher utility rates, property taxes, etc. Check out how the other 49 states handle this.
Also, the Silver Line sucks. One-third of the ride to the airport is spent sitting at the red light at D St, because the state was too cheap to extend the tunnel 150 feet, and too stupid to install signal priority.
No, most police details
No, most police details should be replaced with...nothing.
You shouldn't need any kind of flagger just because a truck is parked in a coned-off parking space in a residential area.
Uh, if they're turning the
Uh, if they're turning the road into a one way, yeah, you absolutely need someone on both ends.
Hence the "most" in my post.
Hence the "most" in my post.
Most details aren't a two-way one-lane situation.
Police details are almost as cheap as pimple faced teens.
The thing people always compare is the hourly wage of the cop vs that of a "flag-man". That doesn't take into account that the cop is getting a 1099 and the other is an employee of a company that is there to make money. The actual cost to the tax-payer is pretty close. Revelation: the money the worker gets paid and the hourly wage charged to the client are 2 totally different things.
The City of Salem tried using flag-men a couple of years ago. The actual cost per hour for a kid from Plaistow to stand there was only $3 less than using a cop. So $24 a day was the difference over 8 hours between having a cop standing there as opposed to a someone's unemployable nephew that North Shore drivers would sooner driver over than listen to. (Salem went back to cops). I'm sure some will claim that $24 a shift is a big deal when you add it all up, but its worth it for what you get.
The fact that we are slowly realizing that these cops who double their pay with OT are actually thieves is a separate issue.
If you're actually onto
If you're actually onto something here, you should get a government job as a construction project manager in another state, and start saving them loads of money by switching from civilian flaggers to highly paid cops.
Other states aren't blessed with Mass. drivers
It does cost slightly more to have a cop there, but worth it from a safety standpoint. No one around here is gonna give a farg about a flag-men around here. In MBHD they drive straight at crossing guards near elementary schools. (You can do that when you are the center of the universe).
Also keep in mind that if these jobs are filled by the constructions companies we are now buying waterfront property for some contractor. For that reason alone there will always be people squawking about how it needs to be done.
The tunnel has more problems
than just the construction project.
Ironically, the tunnel was scheduled to be closed this weekend anyway due to the construction by the WTC station.
About a year ago, sections of the walls, ductwork and ceiling were removed at behemoth Courthouse Station, apparently due to rust. Nothing has been done since, leaving gaping holes.
There always is water running on the roadbed inside the station as well, although where you would think there would be water, at the bottom of the tunnel in the channel, there isn't any.
As we all know, the project should have been light rail to begin with, but with the addition of SL3 service to Chelsea on April 21, and the fact that the service is far over capacity during rush hour as it is, commuting to Logan or the Seaport will be even worse if there is an extended period that the tunnel is out of service.
And, oh yeah, Free the Ramp!
that area flooded twice in the past 4 months too
could have contributed - can't sue the adjacent construction project over that though.
bumpy ride
I guess that would explain why the ride is so bumpy. I would have expected a much smoother ride in a tunnel than I ever get on the Silver Line.
New Excavation?
Might this be the work of those building on top of the tunnel right now? I think it is called The Echelon, the one that is a big hole with the tunnel in the middle of the site?
Thanks for the info on WTC Station.
Waterside Place phase 2
Is the project under construction directly adjacent to the WTC stop.
LOL Gondolas!
In Boston transit, concrete won't fall on gondola, gondola will fall on you!
Walk
Walk. Don’t even bother trying to take this.
Just went from the design center to SS in a cool 45 min because I didn’t see this before getting on the bus and they aren’t doing anything to help the buses get through traffic. Just a disaster. But what else can you expect from the MBTA.
Look on the bright side ...
At least they already had the buses to run substitute bus service. Imagine if they'd built the Silver Line as a trolley line.
True
Fair point although some kind of announcement or alert would’ve been nice.
IT'S NOT MY JURISDICTION!!!
IT'S NOT MY JURISDICTION!!! MY DEPARTMENT DIDN'T GET THE MEMO! REARRANGING THE DECK CHAIRS ON THE TITANIC. IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAT WE GET RID OF THE RATS LIVING UNDER THE TUNNEL FIRST BEFORE IT COLLAPSES!
So Yeah
So yeah.. about that SL3 service now.
But joke aside, the T is running the SL on Seaport Blvd.
Honestly if this doesn't show the need for BRT down summer street, I'm not sure what will. If we had BRT (instead of that silly Gondola ppl like), we could just add service in this instance OR at least have an alternative.
That doesn't smell right
There already is a bus down Summer Street, the #7 and the #4 and both are empty during the morning commute, coming from South Station. No one takes it; they take the SL or walk. There's no need for BRT on Summer St.
Yeah
But you're missing the point. Real BRT is different than just a bus on a street. Its a bus in a dedicated right of way in the center of the street. Think of it like the green line but with buses on pavement instead of tracks.
Or would you be more supportive if it was Light Rail? Light rail would be fairly easy to run down summer street also. Again, its about already wide Summer Street is.
Where to?
A BRT to .. where??! Light rail to .. where??!
SOUTHIE!
Our buses are packed.
Is it still closed?
Is it still closed?
Surprised nobody responded earlier
but the tunnel is open today. The T sent out what appeared to be conflicting e-mails on whether this weekend’s scheduled closure is still planned.
At 10am I received a reminder about the pending closure between 9pm Friday and end of service Sunday.
At 2:40, I received an “All Clear” e-mail that said “The detour described below has ended.”