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93-582: A co-investigator (Co-I) assists the principal investigator in the management and leadership of the research project. There may be a number of co-investigators supporting a PI. In the context of United States federal funding from agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF), the PI is the person who takes direct responsibility for completion of

186-453: A Pass-through entity that provides the federal assistance to another recipient. The Pass-through entity is still considered a recipient, but the assistance assigned to it may be "passed on" or "passed-through it" to another recipient. The entity that receives the assistance from a pass-through entity is a sub-recipient . This is allowed because certain federal programs may not have the organizational structure to provide assistance directly to

279-499: A directory and a dictionary , facilitating both recipients and the general public in finding information of a specific program. Currently, programs in the Catalog are being classified by the GSA into 15 types of assistance, which are then sub-classified into seven financial types of assistance and eight non-financial types of assistance: To help potential recipients locate a federal program,

372-501: A Federal agency that provides assistance or benefits for: (1) a State or States, territorial possession, county, city, other political subdivision, grouping, or instrumentality thereof; (2) any domestic profit or nonprofit corporation or institution; or (3) an individual; other than an agency of the Federal government". Therefore, programs (or "functions") can refer to any number of activities or services provided by agencies, such as building

465-567: A Third Harbor Tunnel plan that was hugely controversial in its own right, because it would have disrupted the Maverick Square area of East Boston . It was never built. A major reason for the all-day congestion was that the Central Artery carried not only north–south traffic, but it also carried east–west traffic. Boston's Logan Airport lies across Boston Harbor in East Boston; and before

558-405: A bridge, providing food or medicine vouchers to the poor, or providing counseling to violence victims. Programs are assigned to offices within a federal agency and may include administrative personnel who work directly or indirectly with the program. Each program is created with a specific purpose and has unique operations and activities, (i.e., no program is made for the same purpose and to operate

651-627: A bust of shipbuilder Donald McKay in East Boston ; blue interior lighting of the Zakim Bridge; and the Miller's River Littoral Way walkway and lighting under the loop ramps north of the Charles River . Extensive landscape planting, as well as a maintenance program to support the plantings, was requested by many community members during public meetings. The Big Dig separated the co-mingled traffic from

744-474: A combined sum of approximately $ 51 million. This project was developed in response to traffic congestion on Boston's historically tangled streets which were laid out centuries before the advent of the automobile . As early as 1930, the city's Planning Board recommended a raised express highway running north–south through the downtown district in order to draw through traffic off the city streets. Commissioner of Public Works William Callahan promoted plans for

837-579: A contractor for a pharmaceutical company working on testing the safety and efficacy of new medicines. There were 20,458 PIs on NIH R01 grants in US biomedical research in 2000. In 2013, this number was 21,511. At the same time, the success rate for an applicant to receive an R01 grant went down from 32% in 2000 to 17% in 2013. Federal funding In the United States , federal assistance , also known as federal aid , federal benefits , or federal funds ,

930-457: A funded project, directing the research and reporting directly to the funding agency. For small projects (which might involve 1–5 people) the PI is typically the person who conceived the investigation, but for larger projects the PI may be selected by a team to obtain the best strategic advantage for the project. In the context of a clinical trial, a PI may be an academic working with grants from NIH or other funding agencies, or may be effectively

1023-399: A number of state-of-the-art construction techniques. Because the old elevated highway (which remained in operation throughout the construction process) rested on pylons located throughout the designated dig area, engineers first utilized slurry wall techniques to create 120-foot-deep (37 m) concrete walls upon which the highway could rest. These concrete walls also stabilized the sides of

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1116-465: A program is called the "popular name". However, the official name of program is standardized within the federal government so that federal agencies can maintain better accountability of their assigned assistance. For example, an individual who receives rent assistance payments through the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program might not know the exact official name of the program, and may simply call it

1209-415: A recipient may be considered a pass-through entity and a sub-recipient at the same time. Certain programs may require the original recipient to pass on the assistance to sub-recipients (i.e., the federal program requires that the assistance be provided to nonprofit neighborhood watch organizations, and the assistance passes recipient through sub-recipient until it reaches them), while others may require that

1302-401: A rent assistance program usually tied to public housing projects, also engage in the activity of rent subsidizing. Programs administer assistance by "granting" or "awarding" a portion of the assistance to recipients. These are called Federal grants or awards. Recipients must first apply for the award directly to the federal agency that administers the program. The agency must then determine

1395-402: A short portion of I-93, but additional lanes and direct connections are provided for this traffic. The result was a 62% reduction in vehicle hours of travel on I-93, the airport tunnels, and the connection from Storrow Drive, from an average 38,200 hours per day before construction (1994–1995) to 14,800 hours per day in 2004–2005, after the project was largely complete. The savings for travelers

1488-427: A term of one year (although some may have a longer lifespan, even indefinitely), and the recipient must use the assistance within that timeframe. This is done because federal assistance is tied to the federal government's budget process, and any funds not used by a recipient within the specified time limit reverts to other uses. As a condition of receiving Federal awards or grants, recipients must agree to comply with

1581-497: A traditional cut-and-cover method had been applied. Other challenges included existing subway tunnels crossing the path of the underground highway. To build slurry walls past these tunnels, it was necessary to dig beneath the tunnels and to build an underground concrete bridge to support the tunnels' weight, without interrupting rail service. The project was managed by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, with

1674-569: A uniform and standardized system has been assigned to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) since 1984. There were precursor catalogs to this one, focusing on particular topics and maintained by other groups, such as the US office of education https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED067776/page/n17/mode/2up pub. 1972 pg. iii. The GSA achieves these tasks by maintaining the Federal assistance information database, which incorporates all federal agency programs that provide grants and awards to recipients. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) assists

1767-518: A year by increasing economic productivity and decreasing motor vehicle operating costs. That study did not look at highways outside the Big Dig construction area and did not take into account new congestion elsewhere. Towards the end of the Big Dig in 2003, it was estimated that the demolition of the Central Artery highway would cause a $ 732 million increase in property value in Boston's financial district, with

1860-426: Is defined as any federal program, project, service, or activity provided by the federal government that directly assists domestic governments, organizations, or individuals in the areas of education , health , public safety , public welfare , and public works , among others. The assistance, which can reach to over $ 400 billion annually, is provided and administered by federal government agencies , such as

1953-456: Is not limited to, grants, loans, loan guarantees, scholarships, mortgage loans, insurance…, property, technical assistance, counseling, statistical, and other expert information; and service activities of regulatory agencies. To provide federal assistance in an organized manner, the federal government offers assistance through federal agencies. It is the agency's responsibility to adequately provide assistance, as well as manage, account, and monitor

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2046-613: Is part of, or located within, the United States and its territories and possessions. Recipients are grouped into six main categories, as established by the GSA: Every program is designed with a specific recipient in mind. Certain programs have restrictions on who may receive the assistance because of the nature of its activity or service. Examples include infrastructure programs and grants, which are usually restricted to States, local governments, and U.S. territories—because these are usually

2139-592: Is supported by two forked towers connected to the span by cables and girders. It was the first bridge in the country to employ this method and it was, at the time, the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world, having since been surpassed by the Eastern span replacement of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge . Meanwhile, construction continued on the Tobin Bridge approach. By the time all parties agreed on

2232-718: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . Nashua Street Park on the Boston side was completed in 2003, by McCourt Construction with $ 7.9 million in funding from MassDOT. As of 2017, $ 30.5 million had been transferred to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to complete five projects. Another incomplete but required project is the South Bank Bridge over the MBTA Commuter Rail tracks at North Station (connecting Nashua Street Park to

2325-527: The Charles River crossing had been a source of major controversy throughout the design phase of the project. Many environmental advocates preferred a river crossing entirely in tunnels, but this, along with 27 other plans, was rejected as too costly. Finally, with a deadline looming to begin construction on a separate project that would connect the Tobin Bridge to the Charles River crossing, Salvucci overrode

2418-759: The Charles River Dam and lock, a maintenance facility, and a planned pedestrian walkway across the Charles River next to the MBTA Commuter Rail drawbridge at North Station (connecting Nashua Street Park and North Point Park). MassDOT is funding the South Bank Park, and replacement of the North Washington Street Bridge (construction Aug 2018–23). EF Education is funding public greenspace improvements as part of its three-phase expansion at North Point. Remaining funding may be used to construct

2511-516: The Code of Federal Regulations , with summaries and guidance for these regulations contained in OMB Circular letters. Given the enormous size of federal assistance provided, the Federal government has designed different types of grants, each with its own unique way of awarding and/or operating: A recipient of federal awards or funds is defined as any non-federal entity that receives federal assistance and

2604-581: The North-South Rail Link , which would have connected North and South Stations (the major passenger train stations in Boston), but this aspect of the project was ultimately dropped by the state transportation administration early in the Dukakis administration. Negotiations with the federal government had led to an agreement to widen some of the lanes in the new harbor tunnel, and accommodating these would require

2697-604: The Red and Blue subway lines, and to restore the Green Line streetcar service to the Arborway in Jamaica Plain have not been completed. The Red and Blue subway line connection underwent initial design, but no funding has been designated for the project. The Arborway Line restoration has been abandoned, following a final court decision in 2011. The original Big Dig plan also included

2790-441: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services , through special programs to recipients . The term assistance (or benefits ) is defined by the federal government as: The transfer of money, property, services, or anything of value, the principal purpose of which is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by Federal statute,…and includes, but

2883-474: The "rent subsidizing" program, due to its type of activity or service. However, there are many other federal rent subsidizing programs, which require standard program names to differentiate them. In this case, programs such as Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Sec. 202), which is a project-based rental assistance program exclusively for the elderly and Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program-Special Allocations,

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2976-531: The AGO, has become a pass-through entity and the cities and counties have become "sub-recipients", all the while the assistance is still serving the federal program's purpose to prevent crime. Sub-recipients may in turn pass on the assistance to another sub-recipient to serve the purpose required by the federal program, for example if the cities mentioned above pass on part of their assistance to nonprofit organizations dedicated to patrolling neighborhoods at night. Therefore,

3069-471: The Artery Arts Program was seen as a potential liability, even though there was support and interest from the public and professional arts organizations in the area. At the beginning of the highway design process, a temporary arts program was initiated, and over 50 proposals were selected. However, development began on only a few projects before funding for the program was cut. Permanent public art that

3162-520: The Big Dig and the Turnpike's Boston Extension from the 1960s being financially and legally joined by the legislature as the Metropolitan Highway System . Design and construction was supervised by a joint venture of Bechtel Corporation and Parsons Brinckerhoff . Because of the enormous size of the project—too large for any company to undertake alone—the design and construction of the Big Dig

3255-618: The Big Dig was passed by the US Congress , but it was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan for being too expensive. When Congress overrode the veto, the project had its green light and ground was first broken in 1991. In 1997, the state legislature created the Metropolitan Highway System and transferred responsibility for the Central Artery and Tunnel "CA/T" Project from the Massachusetts Highway Department and

3348-580: The Big Dig, the only access to the airport from downtown was through the paired Callahan and Sumner tunnels. Traffic on the major highways from west of Boston—the Massachusetts Turnpike and Storrow Drive —mostly traveled on portions of the Central Artery to reach these tunnels. Getting between the Central Artery and the tunnels involved short diversions onto city streets, increasing local congestion. A number of public transportation projects were included as part of an environmental mitigation for

3441-619: The Big Dig. The most expensive was the building of the Phase II Silver Line tunnel under Fort Point Channel , done in coordination with Big Dig construction. Silver Line buses now use this tunnel and the Ted Williams Tunnel to link South Station and Logan Airport. Construction of the MBTA Green Line extension beyond Lechmere to Medford/Tufts station opened on December 12, 2022. As of 2023 , promised projects to connect

3534-660: The Central Artery became chronically gridlocked. The Sargent moratorium led to the rerouting of I-95 away from Boston around the Route ;128 beltway and the conversion of the cleared land in the southern part of the city into the Southwest Corridor linear park , as well as a new right-of-way for the Orange Line subway and Amtrak . Parts of the planned I-695 right-of-way remain unused and under consideration for future mass-transit projects. The original 1948 Master Plan included

3627-475: The Central Artery, an elevated expressway which eventually was constructed between the downtown area and the waterfront. Governor John Volpe interceded in the 1950s to change the design of the last section of the Central Artery, putting it underground through the Dewey Square Tunnel . While traffic moved somewhat better, the other problems remained. There was chronic congestion on the Central Artery (I-93),

3720-559: The GSA in maintaining the database by serving as an intermediary agent between the Federal agencies and GSA. In addition to these tasks, the Federal Program Information Act requires the GSA to provide federal assistance information to the general public through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), a free register, which incorporates both federal agency and federal program information. This register acts as both

3813-519: The General Services Administration assigns a two-digit number unique to each federal agency authorized to provide assistance, and a three digit number to each federal assistance program within that agency. With these designations, a federal assistance program is identified by the combination of both numbers, which in turn creates a five digit number divided by a dot (55.555). The two digit numbers assigned to federal agencies are: Due to

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3906-683: The I-93 design, construction of the Tobin connector (today known as the "City Square Tunnel" for a Charlestown area it bypasses) was far along, significantly adding to the cost of constructing the US Route 1 interchange and retrofitting the tunnel. Boston blue clay and other soils extracted from the path of the tunnel were used to cap many local landfills , fill in the Granite Rail Quarry in Quincy , and restore

3999-582: The Inner Belt, was subsequently renamed Interstate 695 . (The law establishing the Interstate highway system was enacted in 1956.) The Inner Belt District was to pass to the west of the downtown core, through the neighborhood of Roxbury and the cities of Brookline , Cambridge , and Somerville . Earlier controversies over impact of the Boston extension of the Massachusetts Turnpike , particularly on

4092-451: The MTA's representative. Eventually, MTA combined some of its employees with joint venture employees in an integrated project organization. This was intended to make management more efficient, but it hindered MTA's ability to independently oversee project activities because MTA and the joint venture had effectively become partners in the project. In addition to political and financial difficulties,

4185-529: The Massachusetts Governor's Office to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (MTA). The MTA, which had little experience in managing an undertaking of the scope and magnitude of the CA/T Project, hired a joint venture to provide preliminary designs, manage design consultants and construction contractors, track the project's cost and schedule, advise MTA on project decisions, and (in some instances) act as

4278-578: The Massachusetts Turnpike and the Sumner and Callahan tunnels. While only one net lane in each direction was added to the north–south I-93, several new east–west lanes became available. East–west traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike/I-90 now proceeds directly through the Ted Williams Tunnel to Logan Airport and Route 1A beyond. Traffic between Storrow Drive and the Callahan and Sumner Tunnels still uses

4371-769: The North Point Inlet pedestrian bridge, and a pedestrian walkway over Leverett Circle . Before being replaced with surface access during the reconstruction of the Science Park MBTA Green Line station, Leverett Circle had pedestrian bridges with stairs that provided elevated access between the station, the Charles River Parks, and the sidewalk to the Boston Museum of Science . The replacement ramps would comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and allow easy travel by wheelchair or bicycle over

4464-473: The amount of assistance to be awarded and notifies the recipient of the award. To be official, an award requires a contract or grant agreements between the agency and the recipient that details the use of the award and restrictions and limitations. Federal awards may specify a time period during which the recipient may use the assistance. This is called the Period of Availability of Federal Funds. Most grants have

4557-484: The applicable laws and regulations related to the program and its agency, as well as any provisions included in the contracts and grant agreements entered between the recipient and the agency. Failure to do so may lead to sanctions, including fines and penalties, exclusion or suspension from participating in federal assistance programs and activities, and/or criminal charges. Most federal program regulations for which agencies and recipients must always comply are compiled in

4650-412: The assistance they pass on. The following is a list of circular letters issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that provide significant information and guidance for Federal agencies, recipients, auditors, and the general public over the use and management of federal funds, operations of federal assistance programs, and agencies' and recipients' compliance with laws and regulations imposed by

4743-423: The assistance they received. Additionally, Federal agencies routinely visit recipients and inspect their records and statements to check for situations of noncompliance with laws and regulations, and require periodic financial and performance reports that detail recipient operations. Federal agencies also require pass-through entities to perform similar procedures to their sub-recipients, since they are responsible for

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4836-460: The busy intersection. While not a legally mandated requirement, public art was part of the urban design planning process (and later design development work) through the Artery Arts Program. The intent of the program was to integrate public art into highway infrastructure (retaining walls, fences, and lighting) and the essential elements of the pedestrian environment (walkways, park landscape elements, and bridges). As overall project costs increased,

4929-511: The circle. All southbound lanes of I-93 opened to traffic on March 5, 2005, including the left lane of the Zakim Bridge, and all of the refurbished Dewey Square Tunnel . By the end of December 2004, 95% of the Big Dig was completed. Major construction remained on the surface, including construction of final ramp configurations in the North End and in the South Bay interchange, and reconstruction of

5022-451: The city, not reduced or eliminated (although some trips are now faster). The report states, "Ultimately, many motorists going to and from the suburbs at peak rush hours are spending more time stuck in traffic, not less." The Globe also asserted that their analysis provides a fuller picture of the traffic situation than a state-commissioned study done two years earlier, in which the Big Dig was credited with helping to save at least $ 167 million

5115-591: The decades passed and other planned expressways were cancelled, continually escalating vehicular traffic that was well beyond its design capacity. Local businesses again wanted relief, city leaders sought a reuniting of the waterfront with the city, and nearby residents desired removal of the matte green-painted elevated road which mayor Thomas Menino called Boston's "other Green Monster " (as an unfavorable comparison to Fenway Park 's famed left-field wall). MIT engineers Bill Reynolds and (eventual state Secretary of Transportation) Frederick P. Salvucci envisioned moving

5208-400: The eastbound lanes on January 19. The next phase, moving the elevated Interstate 93 underground, was completed in two stages: northbound lanes opened on March 29, 2003, and southbound lanes (in a temporary configuration) on December 20, 2003. A tunnel underneath Leverett Circle connecting eastbound Storrow Drive to I-93 North and the Tobin Bridge opened December 19, 2004, easing congestion at

5301-524: The elevated six-lane highway through the center of downtown Boston, which was, in the words of Pete Sigmund, "like a funnel full of slowly-moving, or stopped, cars (and swearing motorists)." In 1959, the 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) road section carried approximately 75,000 vehicles a day, but by the 1990s, this had grown to 190,000 vehicles a day. Traffic jams of 16 hours were predicted for 2010. The expressway had tight turns, an excessive number of entrances and exits, entrance ramps without merge lanes, and as

5394-435: The excavation and the possibility of disrupting the homes of millions of rats , causing them to roam the streets of Boston in search of new housing. By the time the federal environmental clearances were delivered in 1994, the process had taken some seven years, during which time inflation greatly increased the project's original cost estimates. Reworking such a busy corridor without seriously restricting traffic flow required

5487-450: The excavation to take place below. Construction crews also used ground freezing (an artificial induction of permafrost ) to help stabilize surrounding ground as they excavated the tunnel. This was the largest tunneling project undertaken beneath railroad lines anywhere in the world. The ground freezing enabled safer, more efficient excavation , and also assisted in environmental issues, as less contaminated fill needed to be exported than if

5580-471: The extensive amount of assistance the federal government provides, federal agencies rely on numerous monitoring activities performed by themselves, pass-through entities, and external sources. The most common monitoring procedure is the Single Audit . This is an annual examination of a recipient's operations and records that determines whether or not the recipient complied with laws and regulations applicable to

5673-633: The federal government: Big Dig (Boston, Massachusetts) The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Interstate 90 to Logan International Airport . Those two projects were the origin of the official name, the Central Artery/Tunnel Project ( CA/T Project ). Additionally,

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5766-574: The final recipient and requires support from other entities. For example, crime-prevention federal programs may be assigned to a State Attorney General's Office (AGO) (considered a State government). This State office may decide to assign part of its federal grant through sub-grants (also known as sub-awards ) to cities and counties within the State (considered local governments) for crime-prevention activities such as neighborhood watch programs or supplying new equipment to police forces. The original recipient,

5859-613: The heavily populated neighborhood of Brighton , and the additional large amount of housing that would have had to be destroyed led to massive community opposition to both the Inner Belt and the Boston section of I-95. By 1970, building demolition and land clearances had been completed along the I-95 right of way through the neighborhoods of Roxbury, Jamaica Plain , the South End and Roslindale , which led to secession threats by Hyde Park , Boston's youngest and southernmost neighborhood (which I-95

5952-650: The impact of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project on the community, representing the neighborhoods to government agencies, keeping the community informed, developing a list of priorities of immediate neighborhood concerns, and promoting responsible and appropriate development of the post-construction artery corridor in the North End and Waterfront neighborhoods. The political, financial and residential obstacles were magnified when several environmental and engineering obstacles occurred. The downtown area through which

6045-455: The mainline roadway. The Connector ultimately used a pair of ramps that had been constructed for Interstate 695 , enabling the mainline I-93 to carry more traffic that would have used I-695 under the original Master Plan. When construction began, the project cost, including the Charles River crossing, was estimated at $ 5.8 billion. Eventual cost overruns were so high that the chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, James Kerasiotes ,

6138-442: The management of federal aid received. The federal government monitors the federal aid provided to any recipient and requires all pass-through entities to monitor the aid they pass on. Noncompliance of a federal regulation on the part of the sub-recipient may also be attributed to the pass-through entity because it is still responsible for the funds it passed on. The task of organizing and categorizing federal assistance programs into

6231-436: The objections and chose a variant of the plan known as "Scheme Z". This plan was considered to be reasonably cost-effective, but had the drawback of requiring highway ramps stacked up as high as 100 feet (30 m) immediately adjacent to the Charles River. The city of Cambridge objected to the visual impact of the chosen Charles River crossing design. The city sued to revoke the project's environmental certificate and forced

6324-401: The only entities that administer public roads, bridges, etc. Another example is health-related research grants, which individuals are eligible for as long as they satisfy certain criteria, such as that they have a professional or scientific degree, three years of research experience, and are a citizen of the United States. The federal government allows certain entities mentioned above to act as

6417-465: The opening ceremony was held for the I-90 Connector Tunnel, extending the Massachusetts Turnpike (Interstate 90) east into the Ted Williams Tunnel , and onwards to Boston Logan International Airport . The Ted Williams tunnel had been completed and was in limited use for commercial traffic and high-occupancy vehicles since late 1995. The westbound lanes opened on the afternoon of January 18 and

6510-580: The original project plan were dropped due to the massive cost overruns on the highway portion of the project. $ 99.1 million was allocated for mitigating improvements to the Charles River Basin , including the construction of North Point Park in Cambridge and Paul Revere Park in Charlestown. The North Bank Bridge, providing pedestrian and bicycle connectivity between the parks, was not funded until

6603-580: The project constructed the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge over the Charles River , created the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the space vacated by the previous I-93 elevated roadway, and funded more than a dozen projects to improve the region's public transportation system. Planning for the project began in 1982; the construction work was carried out between 1991 and 2006; and the project concluded on December 31, 2007. The project's general contractor

6696-488: The project planners to redesign the river crossing again. Swiss engineer Christian Menn took over the design of the bridge. He suggested a cradle cable-stayed bridge that would carry ten lanes of traffic. The plan was accepted and construction began on the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge . The bridge employed an asymmetrical design and a hybrid of steel and concrete was used to construct it. The distinctive bridge

6789-541: The project received resistance from residents of Boston's historic North End, who in the 1950s had seen 20% of the neighborhood's businesses displaced by development of the Central Artery. In 1993, the North End Waterfront Central Artery Committee (NEWCAC) created, co-founded by Nancy Caruso, representing residents, businesses, and institutions in the North End and Waterfront neighborhoods of Boston. The NEWCAC Committee's goal included lessening

6882-575: The proposed South Bank Park, which is currently a parking lot under the Zakim Bridge at the Charles River locks). Improvements in the lower Charles River Basin include the new walkway at Lovejoy Wharf (constructed by the developer of 160 North Washington Street, the new headquarters of Converse ), the Lynch Family Skate Park (constructed in 2015 by the Charles River Conservancy), rehabilitation of historic operations buildings for

6975-525: The recipient not pass on the assistance (i.e., State must use the assistance entirely on its own). Some programs award assistance to a pass-through entity who is neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary, such as the Pell Grant program where students apply and receive the aid but it is the university's responsibility to receive and administer the applications and disburse the aid. Pass-through entities and sub-recipients are equally responsible for

7068-408: The responsible use of federal funds used for that assistance. The agencies then supply the assistance to beneficiaries (known as recipients , see below), such as States, hospitals, non profit organizations, academic institutions, museums, first responders, poverty-stricken families, etc., through hundreds of individual programs . These programs are defined by the federal government as: "any function of

7161-494: The same way as a previously existing program) and it is assigned an official name to differentiate it from other programs. A program may be called by a different term than its official name by the general public, by an entity, or even by law or regulation—such as by the type of activity or service it engages, by a specific project name (e.g., the Big Dig tunnel project), or any other similar term. This type of name, title or term given to

7254-422: The site, preventing cave-ins during the continued excavation process. The multi-lane Interstate highway also had to pass under South Station 's seven railroad tracks, which carried over 40,000 commuters and 400 trains per day. To avoid multiple relocations of train lines while the tunneling advanced, as had been initially planned, a specially designed jack was constructed to support the ground and tracks to allow

7347-653: The surface of Spectacle Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area . The Storrow Drive Connector , a companion bridge to the Zakim, began carrying traffic from I-93 to Storrow Drive in 1999. The project had been under consideration for years, but was opposed by the wealthy residents of the Beacon Hill neighborhood. However, it finally was accepted because it would funnel traffic bound for Storrow Drive and downtown Boston away from

7440-515: The surface streets. The final ramp downtown—exit 16A (formerly 20B) from I-93 south to Albany Street —opened January 13, 2006. In 2006, the two Interstate 93 tunnels were dedicated as the Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel , after the former Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives from Massachusetts who pushed to have the Big Dig funded by the federal government. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

7533-487: The tunnel to be deeper and mechanically vented; this left no room for the rail lines, and having diesel trains (then in use) passing through the tunnel would have substantially increased the cost of the ventilation system. The project was conceived in the 1970s by the Boston Transportation Planning Review to replace the rusting elevated six-lane Central Artery. The expressway separated downtown from

7626-517: The tunnel without endangering the existing elevated highway above. Eventually, they created horizontal braces as wide as the tunnel, then cut away the elevated highway's struts, and lowered it onto the new braces. Three alternative construction methods were studied with their corresponding structural design to address existing conditions, safety measures, and constructability. In addition to codified loads, construction loads were computed to support final design and field execution . On January 18, 2003,

7719-542: The tunnels were to be dug was largely land fill , and included existing Red Line and Blue Line subway tunnels as well as innumerable pipes and utility lines that would have to be replaced or moved. Tunnel workers encountered many unexpected geological and archaeological barriers, ranging from glacial debris to foundations of buried houses and a number of sunken ships lying within the reclaimed land. The project received approval from state environmental agencies in 1991, after satisfying concerns including release of toxins by

7812-415: The waterfront, and was increasingly choked with bumper-to-bumper traffic. Business leaders were more concerned about access to Logan Airport , and pushed instead for a third harbor tunnel. Planning for the Big Dig as a project officially began in 1982, with environmental impact studies starting in 1983. After years of extensive lobbying for federal dollars, a 1987 public works bill appropriating funding for

7905-476: The whole expressway underground. Another important motivation for the final form of the Big Dig was the abandonment of the Massachusetts Department of Public Works' intended expressway system through and around Boston. The Central Artery, as part of Mass. DPW's Master Plan of 1948, was originally planned to be the downtown Boston stretch of Interstate 95 , and was signed as such; a bypass road called

7998-497: Was Bechtel and Parsons Brinckerhoff was the engineer, who worked as a consortium, both overseen by the Massachusetts Highway Department . The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the United States, and was plagued by cost overruns , delays, leaks, design flaws, accusations of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal charges and arrests, and the death of one motorist. The project

8091-564: Was also slated to go through). By 1972, with relatively little work done on the Southwest Corridor portion of I-95 and none on the potentially massively disruptive Inner Belt, Governor Francis Sargent put a moratorium on highway construction within the Route ;128 corridor, except for the final short stretch of Interstate 93. In 1974, the remainder of the Master Plan was canceled. With ever-increasing traffic volumes funneled onto I-93 alone,

8184-510: Was broken up into dozens of smaller subprojects with well-defined interfaces between contractors. Major heavy-construction contractors on the project included Jay Cashman , Modern Continental , Obayashi Corporation , Perini Corporation , Peter Kiewit Sons' Incorporated , J. F. White , and the Slattery division of Skanska USA. (Of those, Modern Continental was awarded the greatest gross value of contracts, joint ventures included.) The nature of

8277-443: Was estimated at $ 166 million annually in the same 2004–2005 time frame. Travel times on the Central Artery northbound during the afternoon peak hour were reduced 85.6%. A 2008 Boston Globe report asserted that waiting time for the majority of trips actually increased as a result of demand induced by the increased road capacity. Because more drivers were opting to use the new roads, traffic bottlenecks were only pushed outward from

8370-403: Was fired in 2000. His replacement had to commit to an $ 8.55 billion cap on federal contributions. The total expenses eventually passed $ 15 billion. Interest brought this cost to $ 21.93 billion. Several unusual engineering challenges arose during the project, requiring unusual solutions and methods to address them. At the beginning of the project, engineers had to figure out the safest way to build

8463-407: Was funded includes: super graphic text and facades of former West End houses cast into the concrete elevated highway abutment support walls near North Station by artist Sheila Levrant de Bretteville ; Harbor Fog, a sensor-activated mist, light and sound sculptural environment by artist Ross Miller in parcel 17; a historical sculpture celebrating the 18th and 19th century shipbuilding industry and

8556-617: Was originally scheduled to be completed in 1998 at an estimated cost of $ 2.8 billion (US$ 7.4 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2020 ). However, the project was completed in December 2007 at a cost of over $ 8.08 billion (in 1982 dollars, $ 21.5 billion adjusted for inflation), a cost overrun of about 190%. As a result of a death, leaks, and other design flaws, the Parsons Brinckerhoff and Bechtel consortium agreed to pay $ 407 million in restitution and several smaller companies agreed to pay

8649-596: Was required under the Federal Clean Air Act to mitigate air pollution generated by the highway improvements. Secretary of Transportation Fred Salvucci signed an agreement with the Conservation Law Foundation in 1990 enumerating 14 specific projects the state agreed to build. This list was affirmed in a 1992 lawsuit settlement. Projects which have been completed include: However, some projects were removed: Some surface treatments that were part of

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