Safety

Family of Woman Crushed by Tunnel Ceiling Settles with Company for USD6 Million

Milena Del Valle, 39, was killed on 10th July, 2006 as she and her husband drove through an Interstate 90 connector tunnel when a portion of the tunnel's concrete ceiling, weighing about three tonnes, fell on the car she was riding. She had been on her way to Boston’s Logan International airport with her husband Angel, who was driving. She died on the spot while her husband, from Puerto Rico, escaped with minor injuries.

A joint federal investigation by the Attorney General's office, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the FBI subsequently found that epoxy that wasn't strong enough had been used to suspend the concrete ceiling that collapsed on the victim. It found that the company that supplied this epoxy, Power Fasteners, failed to inform project engineers that its fast-drying product, Fast Set epoxy, was incapable of carrying overhead loads over time.

Powers Fasteners has agreed to pay Del Valle's family USD6 million to settle a lawsuit the family filed in August 2006. The company, one of 15 Big Dig contractors and agencies sued by Del Valle's family, did not acknowledge wrongdoing in the settlement, which capped weeks of negotiations. Powers Fasteners is the only company to face criminal charges in the collapse. It was indicted in August on a manslaughter charge.

Prosecutors accuse Powers Fasteners of failing to warn Big Dig contractors that its fast-drying epoxy glue was unsafe to use to suspend heavy ceiling panels and had a tendency to slowly pull away over time. Company officials insist they informed engineers overseeing the project that the fast-set epoxy was intended only for "short term loading." The company said it filled an order for its Standard Set epoxy for use in the ceiling and never knew that its Fast Set epoxy was used.

Powers Fasteners is the first company to settle with the Del Valle family. Also named in the lawsuit are project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, Modern Continental, the company that built the I-90 connector ceiling, and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA), which oversaw the project. The lawsuit claims tunnel contractors, subcontractors and others involved in the project were "negligent, grossly negligent and/or reckless in selecting and installing more than 1,500 unsafe and defective bolts in the tunnel project."

Del Valle's death led to tunnel and road closures and caused a public furor over the Big Dig project, which has been plagued by leaks, falling debris, delays and other problems linked to faulty construction. The USD14.6 billion Big Dig, the most expensive highway project in US history, buries the old elevated Central Artery (Interstate 93) with a 5.6 km tunnel. The project also included the construction of the Ted Williams tunnel (extending Interstate 90 to the airport), ramps and bridges. The project was concluded on 31st December, 2007, when the partnership between Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and the MTA ended. Read E-News Weekly 33/2007, 1/2007, 49/2006, 34/2005, 51/2004, 41/2004, 2/2004, 47/2003 & 17/2003. Visit www.massturnpike.com/bigdig/index.html 04/08.