Family sues after Boston Big Dig tunnel collapse

BOSTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) The family of a woman killed when slabs of cement fell from the ceiling of Boston's ''Big Dig'' highway tunnel project filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and contractors.

The husband and eldest daughter of Milena Del Valle, 38, who was killed when a three-ton portion of tunnel ceiling fell on her car on July 10, blamed ''reckless'' and ''negligent'' construction in the suit. They did not specify the amount of damages sought.

The 15 billion dollar ''Big Dig,'' the country's most expensive public works project, has been plagued by cost overruns, faulty construction and leaks.

''The question became not if something would happen but when some tragic incident would occur, and it did occur,'' Jeffrey Denner, a Boston lawyer who is representing the family, said in an interview.

Facing calls by Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to resign, the chairman of the turnpike authority stepped down after the accident, in which Del Valle was crushed and instantly killed.

Her husband who was traveling with her at the time in the Interstate 90 connector tunnel escaped through a window of their sedan.

One legal source close to the family said the suit was expected to seek damages in excess of 50 million dollar.

The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, claims that tunnel contractors, sub-contractors and other parties in the project were ''negligent, grossly negligent and/or reckless in selecting and installing more than 1,500 unsafe and defective bolts in the tunnel project.'' It also accused the project of using defective concrete.

Other defendants named in the lawsuit include project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, contractor Modern Continental Construction Co., tunnel designer Gannett Fleming Inc. and concrete supplier Aggregate Industries.

With 12 km of underground highway and a 56 metre wide cable-stayed bridge, the Big Dig replaced an ailing elevated expressway to fix chronic congestion and reunite downtown Boston with its historic waterfront neighborhoods.

But cost overruns, leaks, delays, falling debris, criminal probes and charges of corruption have plagued the nearly completed 15-year project. Parts of the project still remain closed after the July accident, causing traffic delays.

Burying the highway was originally estimated to cost 360 million dollar in the 1970s. That ballooned to 2.5 billion dollar in the 1980s and eventually reached 14.9 billion dollar.

REUTERS KR SSC1426