However, the project was completed in December 2007 at a cost of over $8.08 billion (in 1982 dollars, $21.5 billion adjusted for inflation, meaning a cost overrun of about 190%) as of 2020.
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However, the project was completed in December 2007 at a cost of over $8.08 billion (in 1982 dollars, $21.5 billion adjusted for inflation, meaning a cost overrun of about 190%) as of 2020.
There were some huge pros to the Big Dig: submerging the interstate cleared up some horrific traffic congestion (vehicles used to crawl for 10 hours a day), opened up 300 acres of land, and jumpstarted the Innovation District.
With interest, the project could ultimately cost around $24 billion, finally getting paid off in 2038. Besides creating a financial nightmare, the Big Dig was plagued by huge constructional flaws – which obviously added fuel to the fiscal firestorm.
The project placed 3.8 million cubic yards of concrete. That's enough to build a sidewalk three feet wide and four inches thick from Boston to San Francisco and back three times. The project installed more than 26,000 linear feet of steel-reinforced concrete slurry walls.
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.
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.