The Big Dig is a salient example of 'project inflation' - "Although the project was estimated at $2.5 billion in 1985, when the last major highway section opened in December 2003, over $14.6 billion had been spent in federal and state tax dollars as of 2006."

I live in boston and drive through the thing every day. as an aspiring libertarian, it's hard to admit, but really it's an example where private industry and competitive markets didn't result in greater checks and balances. QUITE the contrary.

And here I thought it was duck tape. As in, quack. Learn something new every day, after all.

That duck tape really comes in handy! HA!...

Will, I know you aren't alone with that - you just have the gumption to admit it is all.

Big dig fix: duct tape... That is really hard to say 3 times really fast.

Silicon sealant. A little Plumber's Putty, some Bond-O, and some JB Weld and we will have that thing fixed up good.

The good news is that it for the most part only kills people from Massachusetts and anyone smart enough to escape the Tax and Spend and Gay Marriage capital of Blue State America is already safe. Darwin's Law of Natural Selection for people that want to live in a big government utopia.

I don't know why the people of Massachusetts have a problem with someone being killed in a dark, wet place. If the woman was killed by a publicly funded abortionist's fork in the third trimester, there wouldn't be any outrage.

Sorry, I guess that was about heartless, but this is the reality when government becomes the means to ensuring fairness to everyone and to solving all of Boston's ills with more bloated public interest schemes. Take tax dollars and allow government to invest them in some boondoggle, but make sure that it is the rich's money that you are taking. Whoever the rich folks there are that are paying the highest marginal tax rates to donate their money to this fiasco, I feel empathy for you. Get out of Mass while the getting is good.

Thank goodness you posted the picture of Red Green (and crew) at the bottom - the one true authority on all things duct-tapable!

justin- thank you for not living here with us

I get my thanks every single paycheck and year end when my property tax bill comes. For all the tax money that Mass spends on projects like this, I hope you feel you got your money's worth.

Hey, I'm a Federal engineer - and I haven't worn plaid flannel shirts to work for a couple of decades. The pocket protectors wouldn't fit. Do you know what engineers use for birth control? Their personalities! Har har har.

But seriously, I can't speak for Massachusetts, but in this part of the country (Utah) the state Department of Transportation is responsible for design and construction of all highways, including Interstates. The money may come from the Feds, but the states do the spending. So you may be directing your scorn at the wrong branch of the government.