Mod Con pleads guilty to 40 US charges on Big Dig

Leading Big Dig building contractor Modern Continental pled guilty in US Court in Boston today to 40 out of 50 charges of fraud, making false statements, and other misconduct in connection with shoddy work that led to a fatal ceiling collapse and water leaks in tunnels.

Ten counts were dismissed as part of a settlement which avoids a trial.

Sentencing is due August 11.

On the evening of July 10 2006 several 3-ton concrete ceiling panels in the I-90 tunnel fell without warning onto a car driven by Boston resident Angel Del Valle, injuring him and killing his wife Milena. The collapse was the result of slippage of anchor bolts fixed into the concrete structure above with an epoxy adhesive.

Modern Continental as prime contractor had built that section of the highway in 1999 although it wasn't opened for traffic until several years later.

Project managers Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff paid some $400m in settlement of charges of misconduct in connection with the project last year.  They specified epoxy.

Engineers who had questioned use of epoxy to fix such heavy hanging panels were brushed aside.

After the collapse of 2006/07/10 it was found that hundreds of anchors were coming loose.

In addition the project managers failed to conduct inspections afterward which could have detected the anchor bolt slippage before the collapse.Traffic through the tunnels was disrupted for several months by closures needed to repair the ceilings.

The epoxy manufacturer was also implicated.

Modern Continental which was once one of the largest construction companies in the northeast has already paid a heavy price for its ineptitude and negligence on the Big Dig project.

It was blacklisted by several major agencies, and filed for bankruptcy in June last year.

BACKGROUND: The Big Dig is one of America's most inspired pieces of engineering design, undergrounding major expressways through the central business district. But it was horrendously mismanaged, first by Massachusetts Highways Department, and subsequently by the Turnpike Authority.

Also State legislators and the Turnpike never faced up to how the state's share of the cost would be paid for.

Only a small part of the project had tolls - the Ted Williams Tunnel. All the rest was built with debt, and no toll revenue stream to service that debt.

TOLLROADSnews 2009-05-08