"Boston lawyer Bradley Henry, who represents Del Valle's children in the case, said he is still concerned about the Big Dig, a $15 billion public works project that included several tunnels, highway stretches, and a bridge: "The public has every reason to be concerned about the product they got in the Big Dig. They contracted for a 75-year tunnel and received one plagued with problems from the beginning.""
And we are PAYING INTEREST to BANKS for this pile of shit? Can you say RIP OFF, Massachusetts taxpayers?
Also see: The Big Pit
"Family to get $28m in Big Dig death; Reaches settlements with contractor, others" by Donovan Slack and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | October 1, 2008
The family of a Jamaica Plain woman crushed to death in the 2006 Big Dig ceiling collapse will collect more than $28 million after reaching settlements yesterday with the last and largest of the defendants in the family's civil lawsuit.
Milena Del Valle's family agreed to accept a total of $18.1 million yesterday from construction contractor Modern Continental, project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, six smaller companies, and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, according to the family's lawyers. The Del Valle family had already settled with two other defendants for $10 million.
Truthfully, no amount can ever be enough. How can you repay the loss of a unique, individual soul? No amount of money could ever do that.
Del Valle, a 38-year-old mother of three, was killed and her husband, Angel, was injured when concrete panels crashed from the ceiling of the Interstate 90 connector tunnel onto her car on July 10, 2006.
Investigations of the collapse showed that a string of failures - and, in some instances what authorities said was negligence - caused the collapse as the Del Valles were heading to Logan International Airport that night. Concrete panels weighing 26 tons fell from the ceiling after the failure of bolts that had been secured with epoxy.
The National Transportation Safety Board faulted, among others, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and the Turnpike Authority for not taking steps to prevent the collapse; epoxy vendor Powers Fasteners; Modern Continental, which installed the bolts; and Gannett Fleming, which designed the tunnel ceiling.
To avert criminal charges in the collapse, Bechtel and a number of smaller companies agreed to a settlement with the state in January of roughly $450 million. The payment did not avert all charges, however.
That's all the state settled for? While we are paying BILLIONS in INTEREST PAYMENTS to BANKS?!
Boston lawyer Bradley Henry, who represents Del Valle's children in the case, said he is still concerned about the Big Dig, a $15 billion public works project that included several tunnels, highway stretches, and a bridge: "The public has every reason to be concerned about the product they got in the Big Dig. They contracted for a 75-year tunnel and received one plagued with problems from the beginning." --more--"
