Big Dig in Boston

mason,

i did a summer internship with these guys. they are a large civil firm with an architecture department that often assists with these projects. its some really great stuff, from an engineering perspective. they are the ones who did up the big dig, but also designed the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge which is its centerpiece

www.pbworld.com

cheers guys. though in a way the story of the big dig is more interesting than the proposal.

i am looking for something a bit less dirt and more elegant. something with some engineering guts to it. even a snazzy metro/subway station would do, but i cant seem to think of anything. anyone?

My brother in Boston tells me that the nice new tunnel FLOODED in a recent storm (hurricane leftovers), closing the whole deal down for a bit. I would have thought that coudl not happen.

"a bit less dirt and more elegant"

I cant think of anything more elegant than the empy space where the highway used to be though.. or that single tunnel snaking through a centuries worth of underground infrastructure big enough to drive through..

"elegant. something with some engineering guts to it"

are you just looking for beautiful forms.. that is the biggest engineering project in the US since the 50's... maybe you need to look more closely at it.

Mason,


I feel the following is a better example of elegant new infrastructure.

link

horus - actually the new bay bridge is kinda bfugly isn't it? but calatrava(who I don't normally get impressed by) just did a nicely simple and really long-spanning new footbridge with a glass floor over the sacramento river in redding california, and there's that new water treatment plant in ny or connecticut by holl...

this is what you want

http://www.wilkinsoneyre.com/

click on the 'bridges' icon under projects

check out the project called Millau Viaduct
link

sorry...
try again
link

Thanks guys, but i know those UK/Europe projects already.
My problem is that I am looking for something local (US/Canada) ... but I guess somehow it proves one thing: that you have to go overseas to find good engineering and infrastructure projects.

C'mon there must be some good recent infrastructure in ths US ... something somewhere. Maybe not.

horus:
that New Bay Bridge isnt built though, is it?

hardly built. routed by over costs. not sure how interesting it will be anyway though either. calatrava's sundial bridge in redding is much more attractive and built, at thi point. but i guess we will have to wait and see how they are going to fund this thing.

I am trying to think of other examples for you, will post if i can come up with something.

there were tons of great bridges on that pbworld site. what kind of infrastructure are you looking for?

well, okay there were like 2 good ones

thanks boss ...

though, i found something else ... somehow i had completely forgotten about these bad boys. they have a US presence now and have a bit of material to work with.

but still it seems the US is a bit weak in this regard: we dont design infrastructure, we just build it.

some perspective:

its too bad everyone is more interested in money than architecture to do some really interesting infrastructure design. almost obnoxious. its a downward spiral: i think if more americans were familiar with these sorts of things, they could justify spending the money on them. we should be sending more high school exchange students to the uk.

Mason, not sure if this is what you are looking for but thought you might be curious of this profile.

Sudhir Jambhekar is one of five principals at the NYC firm of Fox & Fowle , who is busy these days as lead designer for the Second Avenue Subway Line in New York City, a $18-billion transportation project. He recently designed New York’s Midtown East Development Plan, a project to create a transportation hub around LaGuardia Airport.

can someone point out to me who is designing this incredibly beautiful bridge?