Bechtel takes responsibility for 8 leaks (Boston's Big Dig)

[UpInArms]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/12/03/BUG6HA5HFQ1.DTL

Boston -- Officials at San Francisco's Bechtel Corp. acknowledged Thursday that the company was responsible for eight leaks in the Big Dig, a gargantuan, $14.6 billion web of freeway tunnels under Boston and its harbor.

But they stopped short of accepting responsibility for what Massachusetts authorities say are hundreds of additional leaks threatening to corrode the steel beams and wiring in the tunnels.

Bechtel leads a joint venture managing construction of the project, which has lasted nearly two decades and which has been plagued by charges of engineering flaws, sloppy work and cost overruns.

"We made several mistakes," said John MacDonald, chairman of the Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff joint venture, speaking to a panel of 17 Massachusetts legislators who gathered to determine the cause of structural flaws in the tunnels and extent to which they may cripple North America's largest public works project.

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