Tunnel Safety
National transportation infrastructure oversight is currently administered by a number of federal authorities: the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration, etc. However, a glaring gap in the nation’s oversight regime was exposed when a Boston woman was killed by a tile from the Big Dig’s tunnel ceiling; there is no federal tunnel inspection program.
According to reports, federal estimates place the number of highway tunnels in the U.S. over 300, many of which range from 51-100 years old.
One report quoted Wayne Klotz, the president of the professional organization for engineers that builds the nation’s roads. “Tunnels and other infrastructure systems have a significant impact on the safety and security of the American people and economy, so the idea of an inspection program that could help improve their performance is certainly something the American Society of Civil Engineers supports,” he told the media.
The NTSB report on the Big Dig’s ceiling tile incident found that an inspection program would likely have prevented the tragedy. The wrong adhesive was used to secure the tile to the ceiling. In response, lawmakers promised to enact legislation aimed at fixing the problem by creating national standards that supplement the effort s made on the state level.
The Big Dig accident happened three years ago, in 2006. To date no legislation to support nation highway tunnel inspections has been signed into law.
