DanMargarita.com

The Big Dig has been a national laughing stock for years with constant stories of corruption, cronyism, corner-cutting as well as cost overruns. It is somewhat ironic that this should happen in NEW England when I recently saw buildings that have stood for centuries a few months back when I traveled to OLD England.

In fact, much of the world contains structures that have stood for centuries before the invention of modern building materials such as cranes, flat-bed trucks or what was recently mentioned as a key Big Dig ingredient----duct tape.

Another product that was used in the construction and is getting quite a bit of attention is a type of industrial epoxy. No doubt it is very strong, but I would think that any form of adhesive, no matter strong, has the potential to eventually come unglued. Just because some years ago in a TV commercial a guy in a hard-hat stuck to a steel beam for a few seconds doesn’t mean that epoxy is enough to keep Boston Harbor at bay.

Historically, people don’t seem to learn from history and so because something is done a certain way now, we seem to assume that the modern method must be better than the way it used to be done. Without modern materials ancient engineers had to rely on careful mathematics, common sense and sound engineering principles. There seems to have been a lack of some combination of these with The Big Dig.

For all we know however, the great manmade works in history have probably had their share of screw-ups, corruption and ineptitude. Records would be scarce, of course, but if there were expose-type papers at the time, here are some of the things that might have come out.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa: It was originally to be called “The Tower of Pisa” but there’s a reason that it leans. Substandard building materials were used on one side which could not support the weight of the structure. The main faulty material---duct tape. Several union contractors were later indicted.

British Parliament: This home of the UK’s government has stood for centuries, including a portion that has existed for nearly a millennia. The only things that have been able to destroy parts of the building have been occasional fires and Hermann Goering’s Luftwaffe. Yet, few people know that Big Ben, the most famous feature of the building with it’s clock and tower, was originally supposed to be a cuckoo clock. Unfortunately, the Dodo bird which was to be stuffed and used for the clock, became extinct.

The Great Pyramid of Giza: Most people are familiar with the Great Pyramids of Egypt, particularly the one known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but what few people realize is that originally due to an engineer’s upside down view of some blue prints, the Great Pyramid of Giza was first built upside down. While standing on its point was in itself quite an engineering feat, the pyramid was eventually turned over to stand as we now know it.

The Venus de Milo: Granted, she’s not a building per se, but as one of the most famous pieces of art, one had to wonder why the artist try to save money by leaving off her arms.

As we’ve seen, different cultures throughout the ages have been able to raise structures that have lasted for centuries. Why can’t Americans dig a hole in the ground that doesn’t fail after a few years?