Design Innovation: No Ceiling [Innovation skyrockets for Boston tunnel repair]

The Hynes Convention Center is located in the heart of Boston’s historic Back Bay neighborhood. Portions of the Hynes are located directly over I-90, the Massachusetts Turnpike. A 50-year-old cast-in-place concrete slab, suspended from the underside of the Hynes, serves as the ceiling for the westernmost 420 ft of the Prudential Center tunnel.|Maintenance of the tunnel ceiling beneath the Hynes is the responsibility of the building owner, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), as stipulated in an easement agreement. On behalf of the owner, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. (SGH) performed rigorous annual inspections of the ceiling and ceiling-support system over many years to evaluate its condition and recommend repairs.|This article describes the planning that led to a safe and efficient removal of the 50-year-old slab. The owner, owner’s representative, engineers and construction manager focused their planning efforts into three primary phases of work: demolition-enabling work, early-phase demolition work and ceiling removal.

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