Design linked to Big Dig deaths; Findings due by end of month

OFF THE WIRE
GINSU HANDRAILS
Capable of decapitating body parts! Attributed to several deaths already~
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/03/09/mass_orders_review_of_possible_design_flaws_in_big_dig_handrails/?page=full
State orders handrail review
Design linked to Big Dig deaths; Findings due by end of month
By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff | March 9, 2010
The state Transportation Department has launched an internal review of possible design flaws in Big Dig handrails that have been linked to the deaths of seven motorists.
Transportation Secretary Jeffrey B. Mullan ordered the study following a Globe story last month that detailed the dangers posed by the handrails, which dismembered several people who became entangled in the railings and were dragged from their vehicles. Barrier and accident reconstruction professionals said the rails were poorly designed and potentially unsafe.
“To respond to recent concerns raised about the railings, we convened a committee of senior-level engineers with expertise in safety, crash railing systems, and structural design that will review the issue and detail its findings and recommendations to the secretary and highway administrator by the end of the month,’’ the Department of Transportation said in a statement yesterday.
“We look forward to discussing the committee’s work with legislators and all interested parties as soon as it is complete,’’ the statement said.
Until yesterday, state transportation officials had steadfastly defended the safety of the Big Dig system, even as some lawmakers, including Senate President Therese Murray, expressed concern following the Feb. 14 Globe article. It was unclear what prompted the change of mind, though a department spokesman said that the committee of three senior engineers has been working on the review of the railings for several weeks. The names of the committee members were not released.
In the statement, the department emphasized that the handrails met all federal and state safety issues when they were constructed about a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Motorcycle Association called on its members yesterday to contact legislators about the handrails. The motorcycle association sent an e-mail urging its 2,500 members to reach out to politicians about the issue.
“I find it appalling that a safer hand railing design was available, that Big Dig managers knew about and could have used the safer design, yet for reasons that are not clear, decided not to use the safer design in favor of the deadly ‘ginsu guardrail’ design,’’ Dave Condon, chairman of the group, wrote in the e-mail to association members.
The organization, a motorcycle rights and education group, works with the Registry of Motor Vehicles on rider education programs across the state.
State Senator Steven A. Baddour, cochairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, had been weighing whether to raise his concerns about the handrails at an upcoming oversight hearing.
He said he may wait to see the results of the state review. “Once we see the report, we’ll determine if there’s a need for an oversight hearing,’’ Baddour said.
The railings sit atop raised walkways that line about six miles of Big Dig tunnels. The railings are meant to keep workers who use the walkways from falling into traffic.
The Globe reported that seven motorists have died and that most were dismembered, in crashes into the handrails between 2005 and 2008. One of the crashes took the life of a state trooper. A woman lost an arm and survived.
Four of the victims were on motorcycles, and three were passengers in cars, who were not wearing seat belts and became entangled in the railings during accidents. All the accidents happened on curves, and most involved excessive speed.
Public safety personnel responding to the accidents nicknamed the railings the “ginsu guardrails,’’ after the knives advertised on TV.
Roadside barrier and accident reconstruction professionals said the design of the railings is flawed.
Dean Sicking, who is the principal author of the standard national reference used for evaluating the safety of roadside structures, has said the railing did not appear to adhere to crash standards.
For instance, the horizontal bars are spaced too far apart, making it possible for a body to slip between them and slam into a vertical post, said the professionals.
The railings should sit higher, too. They are 3 feet off the ground, or roughly the height of a motorcycle seat or a passenger in a car, making it more likely that a motorist flung from a vehicle would become entangled in the railings.
The widow of State Trooper Vincent Cila has sued the Massachusetts Turnpike and Big Dig contractors, including Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, in Suffolk Superior Court. The companies have said the handrails were safe and met all federal, state, and industry guidelines.
The suit argues the trooper’s death in 2005 was mainly caused by the design of the railing’s rectangular vertical posts. The posts, just three-quarters of an inch wide, have edges that the suit says can act like blades in a paper cutter.
Cila, driving a police motorcycle, struck a vertical post, breaking his neck and slicing off his arm. He died on the spot. The trial is scheduled for later this year.
The lawsuit says that if the state had used a different design that uses pipe-style posts, the railings would be less treacherous. Pipe-style posts are used elsewhere, such as in the Sumner and Callahan tunnels.
That design was considered but abandoned by Big Dig officials, even though it would have saved between $300,000 to $700,000, according to documents filed with the lawsuit. It is unclear why the design was rejected.
Condon, the head of the motorcycle association, said that he drove through the tunnels himself after the Globe report. Although he is not an engineer, he said, “I could see these handrailings looked dangerous, particularly for a motorcyclist, based on their height and the sharpness of the edges.’’