Wave Maker

Well yesterday was a big day for the Big Dig, when the U. S. House Committee on Government Reform held a hearing into the pesky "leak" problems.

There was much finger-pointing (funny how the finger always points away from the body to which it belongs --- sort of an anatomical anomaly of politicians and those under investigation), but the remarks of USDOT Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead gave me something to crow about, and I'm gonna do it (in my usual understated fashion).

From the Boston Globe today:

Mead also suggested that the close relationship between the Turnpike Authority, the state agency that oversees the Big Dig, and project managers Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff led to a lack of proper oversight on the project. The Big Dig would have benefited from having an outside party charged with quality and cost control over the massive project, he said.  ''What was fundamentally wrong here was the closeness," Mead said. ''What you had here was a partnership between Bechtel and the Turnpike Authority. You needed to have more checkers in place, from the beginning, on all these change orders."

In an earlier post, I described my meeting with a then-Big Dig attorney who informed me that the attorneys were instructed not to perform their oversight function. I said, "I can't help but wonder how the project might have turned out if a dozen lawyers at the Central Artery were allowed to do their jobs. "

Smart man, Mr. Mead.

Well the horse is out of the barn and half-way to Calgary, but the lesson is clear: An Owner's Representative should be a requirement of any federally-funded transportation project.