Feds Urge Bay State to Ban Heavy Trucks on Big Dig Bridge

Fri October 24, 2008
Aggregate Equipment Guide

BOSTON (AP) Federal highway officials have asked the state to restrict heavily laden trucks from using a Big Dig bridge after inspectors found a crack on a concrete support.

State transportation officials said Sept. 3 that the Leverett Connector Bridge that links the Tobin Bridge with Storrow Drive and Interstate 93 is safe, but federal officials urged them not to allow trucks weighing more than 80,000 lbs. to use that portion of the highway, effective immediately.

The crack was discovered by engineers in April during a review of the $15 billion highway project ordered after a July 2006 tunnel ceiling collapse that killed a woman.

Klark Jessen, a transportation department spokesman, said repairs should be complete by Nov. 1.

This story also appears on Construction Equipment Guide.