Rose Kennedy Greenway

Highway boss: Big Dig ‘sinkhole’ a pool of mud
By Richard Weir
Thursday, April 5, 2012 Richard Weir is the Herald's new "T" beat reporter, covering a subway and bus system that moves 1.3 million people every day and is the lifeblood of the city. He has worked as the Herald's City Hall bureau chief and an investigative reporter, breaking stories on government waste and public corruption.
The so-called sinkhole that officials feared had emerged underneath Interstate 90 connector tunnels is instead a “pool of mud” that will need to be filled with pressurized cement to prop up the roadway’s infrastructure, said a state transportation official.

“We have a zone of loose soil that is not providing subgrade support. The tunnel is like suspended through a pool of mud,” said state Highway Administrator Frank DePaola. “It’s like a mud puddle. You step in a mud puddle, it’s not going to hold you up.”

Transportation officials last summer announced a void likely had formed under the tunnels where large patches of earth were chemically frozen to allow train service into South Station during Big Dig construction.

News of what DePaola then referred to as a “sinkhole” prompted U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch to call for a federal probe into the tunnels’ safety and for the state to hire a private contractor, GZA GeoEnvironmental of Norwood, to conduct boring samples. DePaola provided the firm’s test results and recommended the remedy to the MassDOT board yesterday.

“As we’ve said before, we’ve concluded that the tunnel can bridge across this loose zone,” he said. “We don’t have any immediate concerns about the structural stability but I realize it’s unsettling for people. ... The tunnel is safe, but I want the tunnel to be there for 100 years and for people to stop worrying about it.”

To that end, he said, the state next year will hire a contractor to dig a 90-foot shaft below the concrete box tunnels to pump in 100 tons of cement grout to “firm up” the marine clay that turned to a muddy mix after it thawed.
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In about 10 years we can call the Rose Kennedy Greenway the Rose Kennedy Waterway.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061122322
 
This article has nothing to do with the Greenway; its Fort Point Channel.
 
I know that this might've already been explained earlier, but what is the patch of the Greenway between the H.I. area and Mercantile Street going to be? Is it going to be something more impressive than the massive flop that has been that portion of the Greenway or are they just going to be following suit and building something that is little more than a patch of grass with a few crumby flowers??
 
Are you talking about the Armenian garden that's under construction? We've discussed that quite a bit in this thread.
 
today
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Boston has the world's most expensively landscaped onramps and median strips.

Take that, Houston!
 
Not that I love the Greenway or anything, but how would those of you who hate it have integrated the ramps? Ped bridges? Head houses? What would you prefer the Greenway to be?
 
Removing every other cross-street would help the Greenway immensely.

As would removing the nonsensical restriction on building anything nearby that might "distract" from it. If you're lowering the architectural bar to the level of "grass" then you're going to end up with something that looks like dirt.
 
Re: the second pic...

It strikes me that for most of the time that cities have existed, the parcels in the second photo would be plazas, not parks, given their:
- size
- proximity to traffic on major routes
- proximity to the city center

I know we've been over it a thousand times, but that photo just underlined it for me. Those should be paved in stone with a man on a horse or a fountain in the middle. Or they should be buildings.
 
CSTH said:
Re: the second pic...

It strikes me that for most of the time that cities have existed, the parcels in the second photo would be plazas, not parks, given their:
- size
- proximity to traffic on major routes
- proximity to the city center

I know we've been over it a thousand times, but that photo just underlined it for me. Those should be paved in stone with a man on a horse or a fountain in the middle. Or they should be buildings.
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Some grass is okay, but it shouldn't dominate. Copley Square has the right mix of plaza and grass. The RKG does not. We need stones, fountains, tables and chairs, and a man selling beer in plastic cups.
 
I would close one of the two boundary roads, and make the other one two-way. The city could experiment with this right now at no cost whatsoever on summer weekends.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Not that I love the Greenway or anything, but how would those of you who hate it have integrated the ramps? Ped bridges? Head houses? What would you prefer the Greenway to be?
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I would have included way fewer ramps. One set each at either end of the tunnels, maybe just one exit total downtown.

We still have the ability to close them. Worth a thought.
 
Arborway said:
As would removing the nonsensical restriction on building anything nearby that might "distract" from it.
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True.

Is there any "law" or other written, objective document that bears this rule, or is it just common knowledge that if you try to build anything "distracting" near the Greenway, the BRA will reject your application and/or Fat Tommy will come after you?

I know we've just had a cathartic session about keeping posts strictly about architecture, but for the good of architecture around the Greenway, does this not far exceed any powers Menino has? I mean, the Supreme Court has difficulties with whether cities can landmark buildings; no mayor or city council has anything approaching the power to tell developers exactly what their buildings can look like, and that on an ad hoc basis. If there were a developer with cajones (Chiofaro?) who proposed a building that meets zoning requirements but is "distracting" from the Greenway, he'd probably swab the decks with Menino/the BRA in court. I for one would love to see City Hall's mafia-like handling of real estate take one on the chin.
 
I don't see one bench in that last photo. Are people to sit on the grass? How quaint. No money I guess for benches. The money has gone to six figure salaries. The paths are ridiculously laid out, IMO.
 
Meadowhawk said:
I don't see one bench in that last photo. Are people to sit on the grass? How quaint. No money I guess for benches. The money has gone to six figure salaries. The paths are ridiculously laid out, IMO.
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I agree completely about the lack of benches but to be fair, I think the parcels that are shown are the ones being cared for/overseen by the Horticultural Society on a temporary basis so being temporary, they probably don't want to invest in or even have the funds to invest in seating! A poor excuse no doubt but, correct me anyone if I'm mistaken, but that's probably the reason!
 
Not going to lie, but these parcels looks like custom parks I put in SimCity 4 when I'm trying reduce pollution. I don't think the design is bad and I really like the red bricks. I'm just not sure what people will do at these parks besides taking a leisurely walk through it.

I'm still shock that none of these parcels however contain a single small playground. They should design one in the style of capture the flag with two forts (for the longer ones).
 
Isn't MassHort also basically broke? At least that's the talk I hear concerning elm bank.
 
Arborway said:
Removing every other cross-street would help the Greenway immensely.

As would removing the nonsensical restriction on building anything nearby that might "distract" from it. If you're lowering the architectural bar to the level of "grass" then you're going to end up with something that looks like dirt.
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How did they come up with the assumption of a cross-street at every intersection? Look at the pic up above the park looks like square blocks.

Taking out some of the cross-streets would defintely improve the Median strip.
 
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