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Spring 1998, Vol. 1.1 Charge It! Taylor Oil is now accepting major credit cards as a form of payment for c.o.d. orders. When you place your order the dispatcher will fax you an authorization form. The form consists of filling in the date, card number, bank number, expiration date, the total amount, and a signature. When the form is faxed back to the dispatcher for processing it will be kept on file for future orders. When the driver makes the delivery he radios in the gallons delivered and your account is then charged for those gallons. The whole process alleviates the worry of having enough money or company checks on the job site. THE "BIG DIG" Fueling The Big Dig Anyone who has driven through Boston in the past few years knows that traffic is a part of every day life. The current roadway was built in the 1950's and was designed to accommodate 75,000 vehicles per day. A booming economy and the lack of an additional roadway to alleviate the traffic downtown, has resulted in heavier traffic than route I-93 was designed for. Currently the road handles over 200,000 vehicles per day resulting in an average of 8 to 9 hours of delays per day. Experts predict that if there is not a change in the roadway traffic patterns traffic delays will increase to an average of 14 hours per day. The whole project can be broken down into two parts. The first is the construction of the third harbor tunnel and the second is the expansion and depression of the elevated central artery. The four lane tunnel named after the Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams, runs from the South Boston waterfront to Logan Airport. The Ted Williams Tunnel was opened on December 15, 1995 to commercial traffic and an average of 18,000 vehicles use the tunnel every day. The tunnel is open to all traffic from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday. Residents of South Boston, East Boston and the North End may use the tunnel on any day when they enroll in the Massachusetts Turnpike's sticker program. The Ted Williams Tunnel is made up of 12 binocular shaped steel tubes that were assembled in Baltimore and barged up to Boston. At the same time the world's largest dredging machine was digging a 3/4 mile long trench in the harbor between the South Boston waterfront an Logan Airport. The tubes were placed in the trench and then connected. Once the tubes were connected all the tile, lighting, ceiling panels, emergency system and signs were installed. Most of the 890,000 yards of material from the trench was used to cap a landfill and create a new public park on Spectacle Island. The Ted Williams Tunnel is 1.6 miles long from end to end. It has a computerized traffic monitoring system, close circuit TV system and emergency response stations at either side of the tunnel. They have the ability to dispatch emergency vehicles to an incident within minutes which helps prevent traffic tie-ups. The second phase of the project is the depression of the central artery roadway that runs 7.5 miles through the middle of Boston. When completed 3.7 miles of the roadway will be placed under ground and converted into an 8 to 10 lane expressway. This will free up 27 acres of city space for development and more attractive landscaping. The ten year construction schedule for "the Big Dig" is expected to give Boston a much needed economic boost. The Massachusetts Highway Department predicts the CA/T Project will generate 15,000 jobs during the peak construction periods. These jobs will include 4,052 workers in a skilled production craft, 3,804 unskilled laborers, 2,378 clerical jobs, 1,823 managerial jobs, 670 ironworkers, 640 carpenters and 360 masons. The price tag for this project is closing in on $6 billion dollars and completion is scheduled for the year 2004. Impact Mitigation Anytime there is a major construction project there are temporary and permanent effects on the surrounding environment. Some of the typical effects are traffic, noise and dust. The CA/T Project is no different. Not only will the standard effects be present, but new ramifications will surface as the current roadway is placed underground. When the 3.7 miles of roadway is placed under ground 27 acres of land will be opened up for development making the physical appearance of the city more attractive. By relieving the traffic on I-93 and placing the road underground auto emissions will be reduced making the city's air cleaner. A pest control program has been developed to handle the rat population that will become more noticeable when the road is placed underground and the rodents are chased to the surface. An in-depth noise testing program was implemented along the construction routes to identify noise sensitive areas. The typical noise that is produced by construction sites is not only bothersome to people, but it can be very harmful to the older buildings in the area. The vibrations from the construction could structurally damage the older buildings. To combat this problem contractors on the job will be required to have noise consultants evaluate the different phases of construction. Restrictions have been placed on the contractors for employee parking so the spaces allocated for the stores and residents will not be taken up by the people working on the project. Logan Airport Adapting to a Changing Boston The CA/T Project was developed to improve the existing roadways around Boston and make life much easier for the people that travel through the city. Boston's Logan Airport is conducting a similar project. The billion dollar modernization project is called Logan 2000. It consists of upgrading Logan's international terminal, improving traffic and pedestrian circulation within the airport and consolidating parking in a central area near the terminals. The majority of the facilities and terminals are over 25 years old. In addition, the airport had to give up some aircraft gates to make room for the Ted Williams Tunnel. Most airlines are replacing smaller planes with bigger wide body jets and not all of Logan's gates can handle the size of the new planes. There are three phases to the reconstruction of the terminals. The first phase of the project, which was completed in May of 1997, was the renovation of terminal E and part of terminal D. The changes have allowed for additional holding space and shorter walking distances for passengers to the several gates. Phase two of the project is scheduled to begin in April of 1998. This phase will add 350,000 square feet to the international arrival facility at terminal E. The new space will be taken up by passenger hold rooms, US Customs and Immigrations facilities and concessions. A new dual-level roadway will also be constructed to eliminate curb and roadside congestion. The third phase is to build a West Concourse and add three additional gates to handle the increasing number of international flights. Suffolk Construction of Boston, MA was awarded the contract for the construction of Terminal E. Construction on the West Parking Garage began in October of 1995 and the foundations were completed in March of 1997. The purpose of the garage is to consolidate several parking facilities into one common area. When the first phase is completed there will be an additional 3,150 spaces and after the second phase is complete there will be 5,700 parking spaces. M. DeMatteo Construction Company of Braintree, MA was awarded the contract for the site work and Modern Continental Construction of Cambridge, MA was awarded the contract for building the superstructure. The West Parking Garage will be connected to The Central Parking Garage by vehicular bridges. A climate controlled pedestrian walkway will link the parking lots to the passenger terminals. Perini of Framingham, MA has been awarded the contract to build the walkway between terminal A and terminal E. The construction of the walkway between terminal B & C is scheduled to start in September of 1998. Looking into the future, there are plans for the construction of a new Hilton Hotel that will be connected to the West Parking Garage and linked to terminals A and E. Once the new hotel is opened the existing hotel will be demolished. In addition to all the construction United Airlines is hoping to make a $30 million renovation to terminal C. Past News Articles |
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