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Big Dig: Underground Tour
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Click in the links below to see a video of the whole tour |
Boston, MA - June 25, 2005 - (First published: June 2002)
June 2002: The Big Dig is dug. The I-93 Central Artery tunnel that makes up the bulk of the largest public works project in history has reached the point at which you can now drive through it northbound without stopping. However, there's one catch: you can't use a car. The vent system isn't done yet. So the tunnel can't support vehicles that emit exhaust. The solution? In June 2002, WBUR's Morning Edition rode underground from Kneeland Street to the Zakim Bridge at the Fleet Center on a golf cart.
One of our tour guides was Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matt Amorello who was taking his first end-to-end trip through the tunnel as well. He met us outside of the Turnpike Authority offices where we suited up in reflective vests, safety goggles and hard hats.
The tunnel is still very much an active construction site, which means it's an obstacle course for a golf cart. As we ride, we had to dodge orange traffic barrels and stacks of steel bars. We also have to keep an eye out for work vehicles coming the opposite way.
The workers down here labor by the dim glow of construction lighting. But the line of fluorescent lights that will light the tunnel for drivers is already in place. There are video cameras up there too, part of an emergency monitoring system. Amorello says the technology in this tunnel will make it one of the smartest throughways in the world.
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RELATED LINKS
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Big Dig Tour
Take an exclusive underground tour from the Zakim Bridge at the Fleet Center to Kneeland Street with WBUR's Morning Edition. |
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