REU Website - Summer Research Opportunities for Undergraduates

Arizona State University

Del E. Webb School of Construction

2002 Research Experience for Undergraduates-Participants

Name: Tam Ngo

Research Topic: Monumental Projects -- Big Dig

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Christine Fiori

Abstract:

To discover ten lessons that can be learned from the construction of the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project, especially in the organization of its management and in the management or mis-management of its finances, so that they may be applied to future monumental projects.
Sister study to those of Dr. Christine Fiori, Panama Canal; Nicole Jackson, Sydney Opera House; and India Joyce, Empire State Building.

To read the full proposal, click here.

Links:

The Big Dig Official Website: http://www.bigdig.com
Arizona State University: http://www.asu.edu
Cornell University: http://www.cornell.edu

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Tam Ngo
Research Topic: Monumental Projects--Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project
Dr. Christine Fiori
June 12, 2002

Lessons that can be learned from the Big Dig

The purpose of the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project, also known as the Big Dig, is to improve traffic flow through the city, primarily by replacing the current elevated Central Artery with an underground highway, and by constructing a third harbor tunnel. However, to this date the project has become somewhat of a regional and political embarrassment, seriously exceeding both initial budget and time estimations. This does not seem to be the product of technical overreaching; the Ted Williams Tunnel is widely in use, and the sleek, newly completed Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge symbolizes the success of many of the project's technological innovations. Rather, the problems seem to be the result of management difficulties, some possibly unavoidable, brought on by the scale, location, and organization of the project.

Some similarly-sized projects succeed without difficulty. That the Central Artery/Tunnel project has floundered indicates that either a unique set of demands or inefficient ways of dealing with those demands or both are to blame. Careful research on the project, through inspections of records and publications, study of its progress and management procedures, and attention to the actions and characters of its key figures, may help identify problem areas, decisions, or mindsets. The project could then be reviewed with the idea of enumerating ways to eliminate those mistakes from the outset, and also with listing reasons why the project, despite flaws, has in some respects succeeded.

This research program is aimed at generating research experience for its participants and useful research for the construction industry. This project intends to do both. First, collecting and sorting the various data will require the use of research methods, and secondly, the information gained from studying the Central Artery/Tunnel project, especially combined with similar information from other large-scale projects, may be very helpful to the construction industry in future such monumental projects, that these might be completed with the benefit of lessons learned.

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