Results tagged “moderncontinental”

Massachusetts has reached a settlement with Modern Continental, the bankrupt Big Dig contractors responsible for bolting in those deadly tunnel ceiling tiles. The $21 million agreement bars Modern Continental from performing further work on the Dig. Project managers Bechtel/Parsons Brinkerhoff settled earlier this year for $407 million, and Powers Fasteners (who made the glue used along with bolts to hold up the tiles) paid out $6 million. At least the Green Line tunnels aren't falling down... yet? more ›

The Globe reports that Modern Continental, the largest Big Dig contractor, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this morning. The filing comes amid news that the firm owes between $500 million and $1 billion to creditors. Additionally, the U.S. Attorney's office filed fraud charges against Modern Continental late Friday afternoon. Some Big Dig contractors thought money would just fall from the sky. Instead, they got ceiling tiles. more ›

The mayor wants a former Big Dig contractor, Paul Pedini, to return two foo dogs to Chinatown. The contractor had "liberated" them to decorate his snazzy sustainable home, which was built from Big Dig recyclables. The contractor claimed it was okay for him to take the two foo dogs because they were going to be replaced by brand-new ones. There were four old foo dogs—two went to Pedini, and two went to the Kowloon Restaurant... more ›

Talk about adding insult to injury. Not only did the Big Dig contractors bleed the state of money and do a crappy job, but one of them somehow obtained two of Chinatown's "Foo Dogs" during a renovation of Chinatown park. From the Herald: The marble foo dogs, sometimes called lions - which once stood guard under the Beach Street arch leading visitors to Chinatown - were taken by Paul Pedini, a former vice president of... more ›

First, the Globe gave us the stunning revelation that Big Dig contractors got early warning that those ceiling panels might fall and kill someone, in the form of a memo from an engineer employed by sub-contractor John Keaveney. Then last week, we found out that actually, that 1999 memo was probably a self-aggrandizing hoax from the guy who claimed to have written it. Naturally, that was the cue for the Herald to go into full... more ›