12/26/2012 10:40:00 AM
NEWS BRIEFS
Tunnel Fasteners In The News
Courtesy KYODO
Oceans apart, investigators in tunnels with falling ceiling panels focused on issues with fasteners.
In the wake of nine motorist deaths related to the collapse of suspended ceiling tiles, officials in Japan have begun removing hundreds of heavy concrete ceiling panels in other tunnels throughout the county.
The motorists were killed on December 2 in the Sasago Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway, which collapsed “in a cloud of debris” about 80 km west of Tokyo, according to the Japan Times.
In response, officials said panels in 19 of 61 road tunnels nationwide with the same structural design as the Sasago Tunnel will be removed or are under consideration for removal.
After inspection, many of the panels will be re-installed with improved anchor bolts.
Half a world away, officials in Boston, MA, blamed heavy corrosion on 22-year-old metal fasteners for the collapse of a 100-pound metal ceiling tile in the city’s tunnel system.
State transportation officials say the panel fell because the metal fasteners had corroded.
Inspectors planned pull tests to gauge the stability of every one of the tunnel’s 2,800, 4-foot by 9-foot metal panels, according to the Boston Herald.
The latest tunnel incident in Boston reminded many of the 2006 death of a woman in Boston’s Big Dig tunnel.
Brewster, NY-based Powers Fasteners was charged with manslaughter in the death of Milena Del Valle, who was crushed when the tunnel ceiling panels collapsed. The company settled the case for $16 million, plus an additional $6 million settlement with the woman’s family. ©2012 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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