今天才看到这则新闻 ，看起来很眼熟，古狗一下果然基本是翻译作品。这就奇怪了，难道“新华社特稿”也搞剽窃？
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mrdx/2007-12/27/content_7321181.htm
也曾怨声载道，波士顿“大隧道”终于踏平坎坷
（ 2007-12-27 10:05:41 ）
稿件来源： 新华每日电讯3版
当时间迈向2008年，美国最复杂、花费最多的公路工程“大隧道”将在波士顿竣工。
今后当地交通将更便捷，波士顿市容也将大大改观。但经历过隧道漏水、交通堵塞、水泥板坍塌等问题，以及工程造价从26亿美元到148亿美元的飙升，波士顿人可能无法用香槟迎接12月31日的竣工日。
怨声载道
“大隧道”全称“主干道/第三期海港隧道工程”，最早源于市政府一次失败的交通建设计划。20世纪50年代末，波士顿市计划修建一条贯穿城区的新型高架主干道，以缩短港口到市中心的路程。
但这条高架公路1959年建成后，因为影响到很多市区建筑的采光，引起市民不满。
弗雷德里克·萨尔武奇告诉美联社记者，他从小就渴望拆除高架主干道。萨尔武奇在“大隧道”筹划阶段任马萨诸塞州交通部秘书。他说：“这本来是一座美丽的城市，但是有一道丑陋的伤疤穿过它。”
在吸取高架公路的失败教训后，萨尔武奇和同事提出一个大胆设想：把主干道“埋”到地下去。于是，“大隧道”系列工程于1991年开工，工人们一方面把原有的高架公路降低高度，一方面在其正下方挖一条更宽敞和结实的隧道。
灾难不断
“大隧道”工程涵盖地下公路、桥梁、斜坡及波士顿港地下隧道。因为施工计划必须保护波士顿殖民地时期狭窄、脆弱的古老街道，且施工在城市日常运转的时段进行，有人将其喻为“在清醒的病人身上动开腔心脏手术”。
这一场手术可谓险象环生。4名工人在施工期间丧生；2000年，前任主管詹姆斯· 克拉西奥特斯因隐瞒14亿美元工程超支下台；2004年，波士顿市中心一段隧道墙体发生渗漏，调查发现是施工中忘记清理的碎砖石混入水泥所致。2006年 7月，通往洛根国际机场一段隧道顶部的水泥板坍塌，砸死路过汽车中一名39岁女乘客。经过漫长民事和刑事官司，直到今年12月24日，死者家属才宣布与工程承包商和解，承包商赔偿600万美元。
因为工程不断延期，有市民甚至怀疑能否在有生之年见证工程竣工。
终成正果
在超过预定工期5年后，“大隧道”将于今年年底竣工。“大隧道”的建成对波士顿居民意味着希望。位于老高架公路下的昏暗停车场已经被公园取代，被高架遮住光线的建筑也得以重见天日。
主持施工的市长托马斯·梅尼诺说，近半个世纪来，波士顿市民终于可以第一次轻松地从市政厅走到港口，而不用在高架公路下徘徊。
“我1993年入主市政府后，人们就说你的城市不可能挺过去，”他说，“现在我们在市中心建成了一条美丽宽敞的隧道。它把市中心和港口编织在一起。专家们可怕的预言没有实现。”司机们也对“大隧道”充满期待。有调查称，隧道建成后，穿越波士顿城的平均时间将从19.5分钟缩短到2.8分钟。
“以前路上的车一辆连着一辆，但现在大家开得很顺畅，”开了7年出租车的贾迈勒·艾哈迈德在体验过“大隧道”后说，“有时候还是会堵，但比从前好多了”。
(胡晓白 新华社特稿)
参见英文报道原文
http://www.metrobostonnews.com/us/article/2007/12/26/01/4033-66/index.xml
Boston’s Big finale
New year to mark the end of an unpopular era
BOSTON. When the clock runs out on 2007, Boston will quietly mark the end of one of the most tumultuous eras in the city’s history: The Big Dig, the nation’s most complex and costliest highway project, will officially come to an end.
Don’t expect any champagne toasts.
After a history marked by engineering triumphs, tunnels leaks, epic traffic jams, last year’s death of a motorist crushed by falling concrete panels and a price tag that soared from $2.6 billion to a staggering $14.8 billion, there’s little appetite for celebration.
Civil and criminal cases stemming from the July 2006 tunnel ceiling collapse continue, though on Monday the family of Milena Del Valle announced a $6 million settlement with Powers Fasteners, the company that manufactured the epoxy blamed by investigators for the accident.
Officially, Dec. 31 marks the end of the joint venture that teamed megaproject contractor Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to build the dizzying array of underground highways, bridges, ramps and a new tunnel under Boston Harbor.
The Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project — as the Big Dig is officially known — has its roots in the construction of the hulking 1950’s era elevated Central Artery that cut a swath through the center of Boston, lopping off the waterfront from downtown and casting a shadow over some of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.
Almost as soon as the ribbon was cut on the elevated highway in 1959, many were already wishing it away.
One was Frederick Salvucci, a city kid for whom the demolition of the old Central Artery became a lifelong quest.
“It was always a beautiful city, but it had this ugly scar through it,” said Salvucci, state transportation secretary during the project’s planning stages.
The Big Dig’s long history is littered with wrong turns — some unavoidable, others self-inflicted.
One of the biggest occurred in 2004 when water started pouring through a wall of the recently opened I-93 tunnel under downtown Boston. An investigation found the leak was caused by the failure to clear debris that became caught in the concrete in the wall during construction.
Four workers also were killed working on the project.
The project’s darkest day came near the end of construction in 2006 when suspended concrete ceiling panels in a tunnel leading to Logan Airport collapsed, crushing a car and killing Del Valle, 39, a passenger in the vehicle driven by her husband.
The project’s escalating budget also became an unwanted part of its legacy.
In 2000, former Big Dig head James Kerasiotes resigned after failing to disclose $1.4 billion in overruns. A frustrated Congress capped the federal contribution.
“It never should have taken so long. It never should have been so expensive,” said former Gov. Michael Dukakis, who left office just as major construction was to begin.
The Associated Press