Big Dig Blog

The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S.  It rerouted Interstate 93 ("The Central Artery") into a 3.5 mile tunnel in the heart of Boston, MA.  It is considered a "megaproject", and also included the construction of bridges, tunnels, and rail connections.  The Big Dig project was formed as a result of The Central Artery hosting north-south traffic and east-west traffic.  Though heralded as being the most ambitious highway infrastructure project in history, spanning six different presidents and costing 14.8 billion dollars, the Big Dig was also riddled with corruption and mismanagement.  The Big Dig was perhaps too big of a project; that is, it was simply too large and too difficult to run it responsibly.  It was indeed a successful project, but the lesson to be learned here seems to be to not let the costs of such a project be kept hidden from the public or run by a few head honchos who can easily cook the books.