BOSTON’S BIG DIG

CEILING COLLAPSE

By Alex Choi
3-4 Period
Physics/Engineering
 BACKGROUND

 Bo ston ’s B ig Dig Ceiling Collap se

happened in July 10, 2006 in
B o s t o n ’ s F o r P o i n t C h a n n e l Tu n n e l .
 The concrete ceiling (26 tons of
concrete and hardware) of one of
Bo ston ’s B ig Dig tun nels h ad
collapsed, killing a woman, Milena
D e l Va l l e .

“Public Demand for Big Dig Accountability.” RSS, www.tunneltalk.com/Safety

-Sep2006-Ceiling-panel-collapse-in-Boston-Big-Dig-tunnel.php.

Wald, Matthew L. “Collapse of Big Dig Ceiling in Boston Is Tied to Glue.” The New York Times,
The New York Times, 11 July 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/us/11bigdig.html.
 THE CAUSE OF THE DISASTER

 Bo ston ’s B ig Dig Ceiling Collap se

had occurred due to the builders
using the wrong epoxy to hold the
anchor bolts in place. This epoxy
w o u l d d r y q u i c k l y, b u t l o s t
s t r e n g t h w e e k s l a t e r.
 The design choice to use the
weaker and cheaper epoxy had
caused the disaster as the design
was reasonable.

Engineer, Sean BradyFollowForensic, and Sean BradyForensic. “Boston Big Dig Tunnel
Collapse.” LinkedIn, 24 Apr. 2017, www.linkedin.com/pulse/boston-big -dig-tunnel-
collapse-sean-brady/.

Smith, Tovia. “Feds Cite Epoxy in Big Dig's Fatal Ceiling Collapse.” NPR, NPR, 10 July 2007,
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11854258.

Wald, Matthew L. “Collapse of Big Dig Ceiling in Boston Is Tied to Glue.” The New York
Times, The New York Times, 11 July 2007,
www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/us/11bigdig.html.
 THE EFFECTS OF THE DISASTER

 Bo ston ’s B ig Dig Ceiling Collap se

w o u l d k i l l a b e l o v e d M o t h e r, M i l e n a
D e l l Va l l e a n d e f f e c t h e r w h o l e f a m i l y
with her loss.
 This disaster would cause multiple
charge s ag ainst th e B ig Dig’s la rgest
C o n t r a c t o r.
 The disaster also showed one of the
mistakes in the history of the Big Dig
project.

Boston.com, The Boston Globe,

archive.boston.com/news/local/gallery/funeralbigdig?pg=10.

Flint, Anthony. “10 Years Later, Did the Big Dig Deliver? - The Boston Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, The
Boston Globe, 29 Dec. 2015, www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/12/29/years -later-did-big-dig-
deliver/tSb8PIMS4QJUETsMpA7SpI/story.html.

CBS News. “Big Dig Victim's Family Settles For $6M.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 25 Dec. 2007,
www.cbsnews.com/news/big-dig-victims-family-settles-for-6m/.
 PREVENTION SYSTEM

 Workers would now take into

consideration the idea of creep, how
epo xy’s stre ngth deteriorates under
constant pressure.
 If anyone involved understood this idea,
the correct epoxy would have been used.

“Thread: Big Dig: Collapse.” Wired New York Forum RSS,

wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9928.

Smith, Tovia. “Feds Cite Epoxy in Big Dig's Fatal Ceiling Collapse.” NPR, NPR, 10 July
2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11854258.
 INTERESTING FACTS

 The long lasting original epoxy to

be used for the ceiling was $1,287.
 The family of the woman who had
died in the disaster had charged
the Powers company that supplied
the epoxy for $6 million dollars.

“Dewalt Eng. by Powers 08605-PWR- Pure50+ Epoxy Injection Adhesive Anchoring

System-21 Oz. Cartridge.” Global Industrial,
www.globalindustrial.com/p/fasteners/Anchors/adhesive- anchors/pure50-epoxy-
injection-adhesive-anchoring-system-21-oz-cartridge.

CBS News. “Big Dig Victim's Family Settles For $6M.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 25 Dec. 2007,
www.cbsnews.com/news/big-dig-victims-family-settles-for-6m/.

Wald, Matthew L. “Collapse of Big Dig Ceiling in Boston Is Tied to Glue.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 11 July 2007, www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/us/11bigdig.html.