What is the deepest tunnel in Boston?


What is the deepest tunnel in Boston? Introduction. The Ted Williams Tunnel was part of the “Big Dig” project to update Boston's Central Artery highway system and was the largest architectural feat of the project. At 90ft deep below the harbor, it is the deepest tunnel in North America.


Does the blue line go underwater?

Perhaps ironically, the Blue Line takes several points of pride from its proximity to water, which gives it its name. Local historians claim the tunnel that runs under the harbor as the first underwater subway tunnel in the United States.


Is the tunnel to Logan Airport underwater?

The tunnel is 8,448 feet (2,575 m) long, of which approximately 3,960 feet (1,210 m) are underwater. A toll is collected in both directions, through the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system, formerly named the Fast Lane system.


How do they build tunnels underwater?

To use this method, builders dig a trench in the riverbed or ocean floor. They then sink pre-made steel or concrete tubes in the trench. After the tubes are covered with a thick layer of rock, workers connect the sections of tubes and pump out any remaining water.


How many tunnels are in Boston?

The four tunnels vary in age between 19 years old and 88 years old. Both the Ted Williams Tunnel, which opened in 1995, and the Thomas O'Neill Tunnel, which opened in 2003, were part of the historic Big Dig project.


How far under water is the Sumner Tunnel?

Opened to traffic June 30, 1934. It was originally a two-way road that carried traffic in both directions, until the opening of the parallel Callahan Tunnel in 1961. The tunnel is 8,448 feet long, of which approximately 3,960 feet are underwater.


Is the Sumner and Callahan Tunnel the same?

The Sumner Tunnel was opened on June 30, 1934. It carried traffic in both directions until the opening of the parallel Callahan Tunnel in 1961. The Sumner Tunnel is named for William H. Sumner, the son of Governor Increase Sumner.


What is the Big Dig controversy?

The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the United States, and was plagued by cost overruns, delays, leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal charges and arrests, and the death of one motorist.


Does the Callahan Tunnel go underwater?

It was originally a two-way road that carried traffic in both directions, until the opening of the parallel Callahan Tunnel in 1961. The tunnel is 8,448 feet long, of which approximately 3,960 feet are underwater. In 2017, the state removed the tollbooths as part of a switch to electronic tolling.


What caused the Boston Big Dig tunnel collapse?

WASHINGTON, July 10 — The ceiling collapsed in one of Boston's Big Dig tunnels a year ago, killing one woman, because builders used the wrong epoxy to hold the anchor bolts in place, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.


Where did the dirt from the Big Dig go?

About two-thirds of the dirt went to landfills and other sites. Moving all that dirt took more than 541,000 truckloads. If all those trucks lined up end to end, they'd back up 4,612 miles. That's all the way to Brasilia, capital of Brazil, as the crow flies, or to the Panama Canal over land.


Who funded the Big Dig?

But few had a bigger stake in the project than four high-stakes players: •Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff (B/PB) the joint venture hired by the Commonwealth in 1985 to manage Big Dig design and construction; •Federal Highway Administration (FHWA—in the U.S. Department of Transportation), the federal funding agency for the ...