Myriad Reports Pointed To Big Dig's Problems

A 1998 report questioned bolts in this tunnel similar to those that failed and allowed a piece of concrete to fall on July 11, crushing a motorist. (By Chitose Suzuki -- Associated Press)

The year construction began, Gov. William F. Weld (R) moved into the statehouse, possessing a faith in the private sector and a disdain for the state workers he derided as "walruses." Supervision waned. DeNucci, a prizefighter and a legislator before being elected state auditor in 1987, said: "The commonwealth abdicated its responsibility to Bechtel."

The federal government similarly was reducing its oversight of highway projects it funded. The year the Big Dig's construction began, a newly enacted federal law changed funding methods and eliminated detailed, periodic cost analyses by the Federal Highway Administration.

Work had been underway for less than two years when DeNucci issued his first report. The project, it said, had wasted $23 million by building four temporary ramps across the Charles and then demolishing them because they had gone up without community consultation. After six more reports tracing waste and excess costs, DeNucci said in 1997, "the way this thing is going, it could exceed $15 billion."

His warnings fell flat. The state highway commissioner excoriated DeNucci, saying, "I think he's talking about the wrong state." The Artery Business Committee, a group of local boosters, at one point wrote a letter accusing DeNucci of working against the city, he said.

Meanwhile, Robert A. Cerasoli, who was state inspector general from 1991 to 2001, was issuing warnings about design flaws. A 1998 report questioned whether the bolts were secure in the ceiling of the Ted Williams Tunnel. But Gov. Paul Cellucci (R) said he would "find it surprising" if safety were at risk.

The tunnel is next to the one where this month's accident took place. Cerasoli said in an interview that the two tunnels used the same bolt system.

In 2001, around the time Cerasoli wrote that state officials had been told by Bechtel seven years earlier that costs would far exceed the public estimates, Cellucci tried to eliminate the inspector general's office.

The following year, acting Gov. Jane M. Swift (R) fired two members of the turnpike authority board. Swift said they had opposed a toll increase necessary at the time. One of them, Christy Mihos, now running for governor as an independent, said the real cause was that they had been arguing Bechtel should have less autonomy. After the two went to court and won back their seats, Mihos said, his comments at board meetings were excluded from the minutes.

Months later, Swift named Matthew J. Amorello as chairman of the independent turnpike authority. Amorello said in an interview last week that he found upon his arrival that "the project was kind of left operating by itself" and that he has created "more of a watchfulness over Bechtel," adding: "They answer to us."

After a leak gushed water into the Interstate 93 northbound tunnel in 2004, Amorello recalled, "I went down into the tunnel that afternoon, ordered complete inspection of the . . . walls and said the responsible party is going to pay for any deficiencies we find, and that's what happened." Amorello's critics contend that he accepted the least expensive -- and not necessarily most effective -- fix.

Amorello said that state highway officials review all project contracts and that "there's constant information flow."

Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who is trying to force Amorello from his job, portrays him as secretive and uncooperative. "That the largest public works project in the country would have no accountability to any public official is nuts," Romney said in an interview.

Half a dozen state and federal investigations are looking into corruption, costs and construction methods.

Noting those investigations, Bechtel officials declined to comment.

No matter what is found now, Cerasoli, the former inspector general, said: "It'll never be made right. Too much money has been spent, and no one will be able to recapture the life that is lost."

Salvucci, who had the vision for the Big Dig, said: "The question is: Did we do the right project? Yes."

But as for how the project was constructed and managed, he said: "There is no defense for that. We've been building tunnels for 100 years, and they don't fall on your head."