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Was the Sumner Tunnel part of the Big Dig?

The Big Dig separated the co-mingled traffic from the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Sumner and Callahan tunnels.



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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.

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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.

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Aggregate provided 60% of the concrete used to build the Big Dig. Indicted were: former general manager Robert Prosperi; dispatch manager Marc Blais; dispatch manager John Farrar; quality control manager McNally; district operations manager Gregory Stevenson; and dispatch manager Keith Thomas.

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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.

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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.

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Built in the 1930s, the Sumner Tunnel (Route 1A South) is the first traffic tunnel in Massachusetts and takes vehicles from Logan Airport to Boston/I-93.

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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.

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The Sumner Tunnel is undergoing a restoration that began in the spring of 2022. This work requires the tunnel to be closed to traffic periodically.

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Today, trains continue to go through the railway tunnel several times an hour, making it difficult to see the original tunnel, but the Brunel Museum tells the story of the creation of the Thames Tunnel, on the site of the Engine House and the original tunnel shaft sunk into the ground.

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Planning began in 1982; the construction work was carried out between 1991 and 2006; and the project concluded on December 31, 2007, when the partnership between the program manager and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority ended.

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