Boston's Big Dig | Extreme Engineering 

I remember watching this episode in wood shop class, when we had a substitute teacher.

I was a full-time Boston cabdriver from 1974 to 2004. I lived and worked through this immense project. It was of vital necessity and impactful to the future of not only Boston but all of the Northeast.

I remember spending hours sitting in Big Dig construction traffic and hearing people complain about the cost and I think it's a perfect example of how sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. Boston traffic is still a nightmare but it's much better than it would be now if it weren't for the cost and time investment in the Big Dig years ago.

I swear there are some smart ass ppl in this world that don’t receive their flowers.

I'm from Boston and I watch about every documentary about the Big Dig. This has got to be the best.

New englander here. In 2022, Billions of dollars later, I'm still in parking lot Boston traffic.

My favorite Extreme engineering episode!!

Big Dig helped for the most part and it also helped their sister city on the other side of the 90 which is in an earthquake zone. By placing the cars underground it removes the congestion from the streets. Yes they went over budget and yes Reagan and Bush tied to veto it twice but it was built. Boston is still trying to manage the traffic but the unsafe elevated highways have been torn down and traffic is moving more smoovely if not at all when rush hour comes.

Amazing. That's definitely an engineering marvel. 🇨🇦

Incredible Engineering on a monumental scale, brilliant documentry thanks for sharing

1:56 LOL, so much enjoying the future of traffic-jam-less Boston.

Amazing job guys. Well Done.

Raised in CHICAGO, born in Europe, at college in Boston and years of working full time right by this mess added another non-elective to my studies (which took up to 7 years), which I never could skip was anger self management and patience redefintion.... Though often end up punching the steering wheel on my beater Honda as a result of daily exit closures and parking lot traffic - (which I did, and the horn would not stop blarring, while Big Dig workers all looked over ands laugh as I fiddle with the wheel to make it stop) Half the Boston doing second or third shift was basically always late for work, I worked as a valet parking dude and Big Dig took up most of my uisual parking options so it sucked there for me right away, aside from trraffic. In the end, I went back to Chicago right before they finished, after having spent years of fighting the Big Dig Devil which would oftern send me to Logan then Charlestown, then around MIT, then again back to Baybay, then hope Storrow Drive would open up in right lane for me to squeeze by while being cursed on "Fok Ya fakin caaah" haha as I speed around Common, hop the hill and then fly down to Broad St and Franklin - heart of big Dig.. After the huge controversy overspending the budget (which they knew would happen, Boston is oldskool corrupt and haldf the budget got divided between Irish and Italian companies sticking it to the taxpayer and actually making somewhat of a peace between North and South End underground wars haha)) Upon coming back next year, I realized that those parks and whatever they thought would look so nice, was basically nothing more than an extended crosswalk with ugly trees and that familiar breeze skyscrapers would create in that canyon downtown from North End Atlantic waterfront wide open to Dorchjester even), traffic still a mess but underground, looked cool but very little gained, as they did not really expand the hw, only move underground... all the surrounding connections were not really needed, and very little gained for such a bill.... They shoulkd have invested in modernizing the T adding more lines and stations, trrains, buses etc, cause Boston will NEVER solve this problem, because of its geography - Charles river, Atlantic coast landfill really, and then everything else below, there is no more room for roads, orparking... Chicago on the other hand.. while in the padst boring to my Euro-stalgic city looks, I loved it after, cause 5 times the size, Chitown I get accros in less than 30n mins all strteets perpendicular and crossed by hw's and large avernues, this is how the city should be planned... and never again had to punch my steering wheel, cause Chi trafgfic is moving!

On the words of Jack Kennedy, "we Americans do these things not because they are easy, but because they are *hard* !" 🚀🌙🇺🇸

They need to do this underneath the Cross Bronx Expressway in NY from co-op city under the Hudson and into New Jersey the Cross Bronx is a disaster

Little Rock, Arkansas has a plan to "cap" several blocks of Interstate and create greenspace above

Those tunnel sections use the same construction method as the bay area rapid transit Trans bay tube

It did not help the traffic. But sure did make the city more useable & prettier

Boston's got a big dig!

What people don’t understand is the pain we just put the generations to come in. All infrastructure deteriorates with time. To fix the crumbling road under ground will be a nightmare. Water will eventually break through. An earthquake will end it completely.

Im glad the big dig occurred as a non-local. I have to say though, driving in Boston is still a nightmare coming from a small town.

🇺🇲🌿🇺🇲🌿🇺🇲 Comprehensive, accurate, and effective in explaining the gargantuan features that were created, tackled, and executed with mind-boggling cutting-edge engineering. Boston is Fantastical. 🌿🇺🇲🌿🇺🇲🌿

It did help make a great city beautiful but if the T could get its act together it would eliminate a lot of the cars. Commuters just don't trust it, who would? Plus offices have to let people work from home all the time! Even with hybrid the traffic is worse than ever.

TOO MANY PEOPLE

How was it supposed to end the traffic if all they did was put the traffic underground? If anything its worse now than it was before.

I've said it before and can only repeat it again here after viewing this Epic story of the "Big Dig". Man's engineering mind is truly out of this world. Those that cast doubt upon our ability to endure and reach for the stars, vastly underestimate our ever expanding knowledge and future potential. Opinions differ as to whether any extraterrestrial life is out there in the cosmos. Someday into the future, largely due to the latest brilliant engineering minds of our nation's, contact will be made. When it is, whoever or whatever they are, should be offered perhaps some tickets to the Red Sox as appropriate gifts of exchange. When they do come to town, take them on an above and below ground tour of Boston. They will then have no doubt that we are a world that will be able to give them a good run for their money, no matter the level of higher intelligence they appear to possess, especially during the seventh inning stretch when we've shared some mythos of the famed "Green Monster".

End the traffic congestion huh? Well guess what if you don't get on 93 North by 3:30pm your not moving because by 4:00pm from the Medford square Malden exit to the NH boarder it's still a parking lot!!!

Could something like this be done in NYC and the traffic problems there?

8:53 massive steel as long as a football field…..and it weighed 15,000lbs 😂😂

I'm From Lawrence Massachusetts God bless all of us amen 🇩🇴🇩🇴🇺🇸🇺🇸🇩🇴🇺🇸🇩🇴🇺🇸🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🤝❤️ 0:54 💚💚💚❤️ 0:40

I work on the big dig, LU 56 pile drivers.

This was one of the most corrupt projects ever!

8:52 "The massive steel hulk was as long as a football field, and weighed 15,000 pounds." I'm sure it did! Was that all?

Why do businesses and people locate down town in big cities like this? Seems expensive and stressful.

I just clicked on this video for the comments

Okay building it on the Sea

And it didn’t fix the traffic issue

What are the floating arrows.? I'm out

i like watching these videos, but being from here and knowing what i have learned regarding this mess its not so magical as you make it sound, it was a big project infested with theft corruption and a death from falling platform in logan tunnel and the cost was 14.6 billion. and whats that fork in 93 that goes to a drop for? was that a mistake? so ,may be all these marvels are not as smooth as you make it appear

I think the math of that tunnel piece which was Said to be 15,000 pounds, was supposed to be 15,000 tons..!

Considering the money that the uk government blows on utterly pointless crap which at best ends up being a complete fudge which pleases or benefits no-one I’d say Boston got one hellava deal - if only we had people with such drive and determination - to say nothing of common sense..

I am so proud that Boston, Massachusetts had more clout to get this built, than Reagan and Bush combined had to veto it!!! ❤😂🎉❤😂🎉❤😂🎉❤😂🎉 Bravo!!!

15 billion to fix something in our country compared to sending 100s of billion over seas is a no brainer for me. Let's not lose all common sense completely PLEASE!

so now to make it worse... youtube logos are floating across the screen while the video is playing....how fucked up is that

Replace the cars with public transit! Remove the urban highways! Save billions of dollars! Improve the air and people’s health!

Unfortunately it didn’t do what was advertised. It just moved the cars so they could sell more real estate.

Money well spend

Too bad it didn't solve the traffic problem. Plans were obsolete before the project was started. Also, due to budget overruns and fraud MA was impacted by a freeze on future federal allocations for proposed projects.

This is a big dig in America. In China this would be considered a child's sand castle dig.

What a joke...All’s the Big Dig did was put the traffic underground. It did nothing to elevate the problem. They don’t even bother cleaning the tunnels. They loos like old dungeons.

Even before starting video I read comments and cannot believe how stupid people are. I got my license in the 70s and today no matter where I go traffic is massive. As a kid playing touch football or street hockey we would get PO to move or stop playing a couple of times for cars. Today those streets have cars constantly and more parked on street. So if the green monster was always gridlocked then today it would of been a parking lot so when people comment about traffic then they have no idea. I drove the raised 3 lane highway and today doesn't even come close to what the old highway did. This was the first major highway to be buried. It was installed in one of the oldest city's in America. It was also done keeping the highway operating while building the highway underground. Look at all the first time used construction methods while not stopping subway, railroad, vehicle traffic, shipping traffic, and airport operations. It also had some major incidents happen and then repairs. Some construction methods were changed and needed to be designed on the go. The subway and railroad needed no possible ground sinkage. A completely new method was designed and worked by basically turning 200 feet deep by football lengths of ground were frozen. Yes there were typical political associated kickbacks and that was nowhere near what people say but it was there and will always happen because politicians are crooks. The amount of police details were everywhere on the project because cement deliverys came from outside the city and on arrival met tuff standards to be excepted and many were refused but still cost. I still go from the North shore and have never had traffic issues anything like on the old highway unless an accident. The airport tunnel was a game changer. For people that say it took to long or cost to much. I prefer looking at the green spaces and don't miss an ugly highway and raised subway that no longer infront of the old garden

POOR TRAFFIC, IT LIKES TO GET ITS OWN WAY AND DESTROY AIR QUALITY

Senator Ted Kennedy made out big time on this deal.

What's the point of shrinking the screen and having red play symbols scroll across???

Maybe America shouldn't have based its entire transportation infrastructure on the car? Just sayin'

extreme fleecing of the national taxpayers.....

Why not build new trains

Save me God ✝️❤️

Still didnt make a friggin difference. Still talkin a hour and a half from rt 99 to storrow dr

I hate these american documentaries over exaggerated descriptions "Giant cranes" "the biggest" "the most" "the greatest" ridiculous

Always know that Jesus Christ is lord ✝️❤️

Has become the most racist town. They represent Selma Alabama years ago.