Big Dig in the context of "Ted Williams Tunnel"

Geotechnical engineering, also known as geotechnics, is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. It uses the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to solve its engineering problems. It also relies on knowledge of geology, hydrology, geophysics, and other related sciences.

Geotechnical engineering has applications in military engineering, mining engineering, petroleum engineering, coastal engineering, and offshore construction. The fields of geotechnical engineering and engineering geology have overlapping knowledge areas. However, while geotechnical engineering is a specialty of civil engineering, engineering geology is a specialty of geology.

The Central Artery (officially the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway) is the concurrent section of Interstate 93, US 1 and Route 3 through Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The modern-day Artery, built as part of the Big Dig from 1995 until 2003, begins at the Southeast Expressway in the South End. Traveling north, it has an interchange with the east–west Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), and travels beneath the Financial District and Government Center through the O'Neill Tunnel. Route 3 exits onto the Leverett Connector within the tunnel in Charlestown; US 1 exits aboveground from the Zakim Bridge onto the Tobin Bridge, and I-93 continues on the Northern Expressway toward New Hampshire beyond the bridge.

The original Artery, constructed in the 1950s, was named after John F. Fitzgerald; it was partly elevated and partly tunneled. Its reputation for congestion inspired the local nicknames "The Distressway," "the largest parking lot in the world", and "the other Green Monster" (the paint of the highway girders shared the same color as the left field wall at Fenway Park). The original Artery was demolished after the O'Neill Tunnel was completed, and was replaced with the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, named after the daughter of John F. Fitzgerald and the mother of John F. Kennedy.

The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially the "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a controlled-access toll road that runs concurrently with Interstate 90 (I-90) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the longest Interstate Highway in Massachusetts, spanning 138 miles (222 km) along an east–west axis.

The turnpike opened in 1957, and it was designated as part of the Interstate Highway System in 1959. It begins at the New York state line in West Stockbridge, linking with the Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway. The original western terminus of the turnpike was located at Route 102 in West Stockbridge before I-90 had been completed in New York state. The turnpike intersects with several Interstate Highways as it traverses the state, including I-91 in West Springfield; I-291 in Chicopee; I-84 in Sturbridge; the junction of I-290 and I-395 in Auburn; and I-495 in Hopkinton. The eastern terminus of the turnpike was originally at Route 128 (now cosigned with I-95) in Weston, and has been extended several times: to Allston in 1964, to the Central Artery (at the time designated as I-95/Route 3; currently designated as I-93/US 1/Route 3) in Downtown Boston in 1965, and to Route 1A in East Boston as a route to Logan International Airport in 2003 as part of the "Big Dig" megaproject. I-190 and I-290 are the two auxiliary Interstate Highways that serve the route.

The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge (/ˈzeɪkəm/; also known as "The Zakim") is a cable-stayed bridge completed in 2003 across the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts. It replaces the Charlestown High Bridge, an older truss bridge constructed in the 1950s.

The bridge and connecting tunnel were built as part of the Big Dig, the largest highway construction project in the United States. The bridge's unique styling quickly became an icon for Boston, often featured in the backdrop of national news channels, to establish location, and included on tourist souvenirs. The bridge is commonly referred to as the "Zakim Bridge" or "Bunker Hill Bridge" by residents of nearby Charlestown.

The Rose Kennedy Greenway is a linear park located in several Downtown Boston neighborhoods. It consists of landscaped gardens, promenades, plazas, fountains, art, and specialty lighting systems that stretch over one mile through Chinatown, the Financial District, the Waterfront, and North End neighborhoods. Officially opened in October 2008, the 17-acre Greenway sits on land created from demolition of the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway as part of the Big Dig project.

The Rose Kennedy Greenway is named after Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the matriarch of the Kennedy family who was born in the neighboring North End neighborhood, the daughter of the former Boston mayor for whom the demolished expressway was named. Her son, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, played an important role in establishing the Greenway.

The Big Dig ceiling collapse occurred on July 10, 2006, when a concrete ceiling panel and debris weighing 26 short tons (52,000 lb; 24,000 kg) and measuring 20 by 40 feet (6.1 by 12.2 m) fell in Boston's Fort Point Channel Tunnel (which connects to the Ted Williams Tunnel). The panel fell on a car traveling on the two-lane ramp connecting northbound I-93 to eastbound I-90 in South Boston, killing a passenger and injuring the driver. Investigation and repair of the collapse caused a section of the Big Dig project to be closed for almost a year, causing chronic traffic backups.