Glue blamed in collapse at Big Dig
Federal investigators singled out a cause for the collapse of tons of ceiling panels that crushed a motorist last year in Boston’s problem-plagued Big Dig tunnel: the glue.
The collapse could have been avoided if designers and construction crews had considered that the epoxy holding support anchors for the 4,600-pound panels could slowly pull away in a phenomenon known as “creep,” the National Transportation Safety Board concluded.
When evidence of problems with the anchor system arose, engineers and others overseeing the Big Dig focused on installation problems rather than taking a hard look at the epoxy, the NTSB said.
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