New Pike tunnel to airport passes fire inspection
By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff, 1/17/2003
The Big Dig project surmounted a crucial hurdle yesterday en route to opening the Turnpike Extension tunnels to Logan Airport.
After setting ablaze drums filled with diesel fuel during several live fire tests inside the 3.5-mile system, the Boston Fire Department gave its stamp of approval to the tunnels' fire detection and suppression systems, department officials said.
While a few minor issues remain, the network of ventilation fans, alarms, cameras, emergency radio frequencies, and air-quality detectors performed admirably, officials said. "We accepted the system," said Fire Department spokesman Lieutenant Richard Powers. "We're ready when they are."
Michael Lewis, the state's Big Dig project director, called the approval a "significant step" toward this weekend's scheduled opening of the roadway. "We're still working with all the public safety agencies as we run through other tests, but this was a big one for us," Lewis said.
While the tunnel and road structures have been largely complete for weeks, workers are only now finishing and testing the high-tech system that operates the fire, ventilation, air-quality, and communications equipment.
Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc., the Maryland-based defense contractor that assembled the system, has deployed its employees on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week schedule to get the high-tech gadgets in shape for this weekend. The company's contract began at about $100 million and has nearly doubled already, but the system it will deliver, when finished, will represent the largest such "intelligent" highway on earth, officials say.
While the fire department's sign-off brought relief to project officials, it came with an expensive catch: The Big Dig will now have to buy five fire engines capable of shooting fire-suppressing foam. The cost will run near $2 million. Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Christian had said earlier that such trucks were essential to quelling blazes in the confines of tunnels, where even a small fire can quickly cause a catastrophe.
Matthew Amorello, the Turnpike's chairman, said the purchase is worth the expense: "It's the best possible apparatus for a tunnel."
Now, Amorello said, the Turnpike has its best chance yet to open the tunnels to the public. Problems related to a flooded work zone and the intelligent transportation system have set back the opening by about four months. "All the pieces are coming together," he said.
This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 1/17/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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