Rep. Lynch Requests Inspections Over Tunnel Soil Problem

BOSTON (CBS) - Calls have begun for new safety inspections after WBZ-TV broke the news that the Big Dig soil around the I-90 connector tunnel that was frozen during construction for stability, is now sinking twice as quickly as engineers expected.

There is now a hole under the tunnel that 50,000 driver use every day.

The state says there is no danger.

"This is something that has been talked about with the board a long time ago again a report given to the board the other day letting the public know the important thing is their safe their being monitored and ultimately will be repaired," said Lt. Gov. Tim Murray.

But on Friday, Congressman Stephen Lynch said at the very least, some reassurance was in order.

"I have requested that both the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration conduct a thorough inspection and structural assessment of the affected area. The safety of the public must be our top priority," said Congressman Lynch.  "I know that they're saying that the public is not at risk but I would want to look deeper into that and try to find out structurally the problem is. I don't want to have someone come up and glibly say there's no threat to the public. We would want to have a full investigation."

The Acting Highway Chief, Frank DePaola has said the soil problems won't affect the tunnel, in part because it was built to act as a bridge.