Politics Have Kept Costly Big Dig Afloat

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, speaks to members of the media outside one of the Big Dig tunnels Saturday, July 15, 2006, following a tour of the deadly Big Dig highway tunnel in Boston. Mike Lewis, Big Dig project director is at center. A female motorist was crushed to death by falling concrete in one of the Big Dig tunnels late Monday night. Gov. Romney signed an emergency bill Friday morning that gives him, rather than the Turnpike Authority chairman, ultimate say on when the tunnel reopens. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole) (Lisa Poole Stf - AP)

WASHINGTON -- It took a dose of political hardball in Congress nearly two decades ago to launch Boston's Big Dig.

The Massachusetts congressional delegation intensely lobbied colleagues to overturn a presidential veto by a single vote in the Senate in 1987, prying open the federal money spigot for the project.

Since then, political maneuvering by lawmakers, state officials and private contractors has kept the problem-plagued project awash in public money _ despite critics who brand the Big Dig a $14.6 billion boondoggle.

"Politics created the Big Dig," said Jeffrey Berry, a Tufts University political science professor. "It was a highly political project from the very beginning."

Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, which has defended its work on the project, declined to comment.

The Republican ties of San Francisco-based Bechtel Corp. were well-known when it was tapped in 1985 for the Big Dig, formally known as the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel project. Former President Reagan turned to Bechtel for two Cabinet picks, George P. Shultz and Caspar Weinberger.

Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld's top fundraiser, Peter Berlandi, was a lobbyist for Bechtel, sparking complaints from Democrats about his dual roles. Weld's campaign account swelled with contributions from Bechtel officials.

Bechtel later hired attorney Cheryl Cronin, who had ties to then-acting Gov. Jane Swift, a Republican, and then-House Speaker Thomas Finneran, a Democrat. It hired lobbyists O'Neill and Associates, headed by the son of legendary former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill. It also turned to veteran Democratic operative Andrew Paven, who could maneuver on Beacon Hill as well as Capitol Hill.

The Big Dig highway project, which buried the old Central Artery that used to slice through Boston, created a series of tunnels to bring traffic underground. Although it's been considered an engineering marvel, the most expensive highway project in U.S. history also has also been plagued by leaks, falling debris, delays and other problems linked to faulty construction.

The initial price tag for the project was $2.6 billion and it was supposed to be completed in seven years. Instead, it took nearly 15 years and cost $14.6 billion.

The state's congressional delegation, all Democrats, has fought hard to keep federal dollars flowing to the project, despite rising costs and scandals _ including a federal audit that found evidence officials had concealed $1.4 billion in cost overruns. And a succession of Republican governors has worked to keep the project moving forward as a boon to the state's economy.

Meanwhile, Big Dig contractors have contributed to the campaigns of Massachusetts politicians, and controversy has often followed the cash.