Tunnel system inspected after video shows concrete falling on cars
By Neal Riley
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BOSTON (WBZ) — More than 150 locations in the Boston-area tunnel system have been inspected after video captured concrete debris falling from the Prudential Tunnel ceiling on Friday.
No one was hurt, but several cars were damaged by falling concrete pieces. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation says the tunnel is safe and fully open.
“MassDOT inspection crews conducted overnight inspections at 154 locations across the tunnel system,” the agency said in a statement. “The inspections identified no additional areas requiring immediate repairs beyond the work already completed at the Huntington Avenue expansion joint in the Prudential Tunnel.”
The five inspection crews deployed across the tunnel system conducted visual and hands-on evaluations to look for any signs of loose concrete. They chipped concrete out at several locations but did not find any loose concrete that needed to be fixed immediately.
MassDOT said a “freeze-thaw” cycle caused concrete to come loose from a joint and fall down inside the Prudential Tunnel under Huntington Avenue.
Overhead shielding has now been installed in that area as a precaution. Crews have also been working overnight to put in overhead shielding at five other expansion joint locations in the tunnel. That work is expected to be done by Tuesday.
The Prudential Tunnel gets inspected every two years and the full inspection that is currently underway will last through the spring. Any repair work will be done overnight and may require lane closures.
“Our infrastructure is safe,” MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said Friday. “Do things happen? Sure, they happen just like potholes happen. It’s actually the exact same weather action that causes potholes that causes things like this.”
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