Specialkvi made this Big Dig video mashup:

And let's not forget the old Central Artery.

Not that that stopped the guy who tied up traffic Tuesday:

... In a video released by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Thursday, the flatbed truck carrying a crane is seen heading into the Ted Williams Tunnel. It triggered the overheight sensors and the warning sign before the tunnel's entrance, but the driver didn't stop. ...

During Big Dig construction, the yellow signs about rats and the mysterious B.B. were as omnipresent as construction equipment. The Globe dredges up signmaker Vincent Zarilli, who now wants the turnpike authority to put up a couple of plaques in honor of the old Central Artery, which he is tired of having maligned (his BB project would have involved building a bypass on Boston Harbor).

Turnpike mouthpiece Mac Daniel says the authority is looking hard and long at where to put the old Fitzgerald plaques that used to grace the elevated monster, but, honestly, Mac, what would be more appropriate for them than the Curt Schilling Memorial Girder next to Quincy Market? Now, it just stands there confusing tourists who have no idea what the thing is (as well as us locals who wonder why Schilling gets his own girder).

Seems part of the Ted Williams Tunnel was built in such a way to make it impossible to inspect bolts - you know, those things that are supposed to keep the ceiling from falling on you.

$458m Big Dig settlement exempts firms from criminal charges in tunnel collapse.

Casey Ross reports not everybody's happy with the settlement, such as state Sen. Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican, who says:

There are rivers pouring through our tunnels, one woman has died, and the public trust has been irrevocably broken. Yet Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff has been able to buy themselves out of trouble for just $399 million. That figure represents pocket-change for a pair of firms that have pocketed billions of taxpayer dollars.

Hedlund's complete statement.

If you only glanced at the headline of this Globe story yesterday, you might've just gone "Oh, well, more leaks in the tunnel." Dan Kennedy suggests you read the entire story, where you'll also read that some of the steel girders that hold the ceiling together are already rusting:

... There may come a time, if it hasn't already arrived, that the Big Dig will be viewed as the most blatant example of government incompetence in our history. And before you start sharpening your ideological swords, it's unclear whether the problem was too much government or not enough. Certainly there should have been far more oversight of Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the private partnership given carte blanche to design and build the project....

Grrrrr, bark, woof. Good dog.

The Globe reports that drivers will soon be able to keep chattering on their cell phones when they enter the Big Dig tunnels and quotes can't-wait-for-it state Senator Michael Morrissey, who admits to "multi-tasking" while barreling up I-93 instead of just paying attention to the road around him.

Andrew Watson notes the uncritical nature of reporter Andrea Estes's account:

... It's good to know that our leaders are aware of the safety issues. But I fear that the Globe will lose Ms Estes to the Onion.

The Herald reports on a fight over the old marble "foo dogs" that used to greet Chinatown visitors at the gate fronting the Big Dig.

A couple of foo photos.

Abnormality Arises: The fences came down around most of Chinatown Park today, including the waterfall and stream.

Official opening is Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 1 p.m.