The Big Dig: Reshaping an American City
Gr 5-8-The "Big Dig" is the largest and most complex (and some might add, disruptive) U.S. transportation reconstruction project to date. Officially known as the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, the "dig" began in 1991, with an estimated 14 billion dollar price tag and a 20-year time frame, as an effort to solve Boston's massive traffic problems. Separate chapters are devoted to the four major elements of the project: the staged construction of tunnels, bridges and viaducts, aboveground highways, and surface roads and rights-of-way. These nuts-and-bolts descriptions are framed by an informative introduction with pertinent Boston history and a Central Artery timeline and a concluding essay on the relationship between urban infrastructure and quality of life. Vibrant, full-color photographs appear throughout and numerous maps and diagrams are carefully deployed to further enhance understanding of the text. A glossary of 15 construction terms highlighted in the text is somewhat superfluous. Vanderwarker succeeds in reducing a highly complex endeavor to comprehensible parts in a straightforward, lucid narrative. An impressive true-life tale of American ingenuity.Mary Ann Carcich, Mattituck-Laurel Public Library, Mattituck, NYCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.