Abstract
This paper discusses Boston's Big Dig project which was one of the most expansive transportation construction projects undertaken in the United States. The paper explains that the Big Dig project took several years longer than originally planned and experienced severe cost overruns, and, additionally, the project was poorly managed according to the basic project management principles and certainly from the Department of Defense's and other government agency project management guidelines. This research project discusses Boston's Big Dig project from the perspective of a project management purview and offers a series of lessons learned and suggestions for future transportation and construction management projects.

From the Paper
"This document discusses Boston's Big Dig project which was one of the most expansive transportation construction project undertaken in the United States. The Big Dig project took several years longer than originally planned and experienced severe cost overruns. Additionally, the project was poorly managed according to the basic project management principles and certainly from the Department of Defense's and other government agency project management guidelines. This research project discusses Boston's Big Dig project from the perspective of a project management purview and offers a series of lessons learned and suggestions for future..."

Tags:boston's, big, dig

Abstract
The paper considers the challenges that existed in improving the Central Artery in Boston to alleviate the traffic problem and then discusses the high costs associated with the Big Dig project. The paper explains that these were due to unanticipated expenditures, engineering problems, inferior construction, fraud and lawsuits, and they eventually caused the wave of public distrust regarding the final product. The paper then considers the benefits of the Big Dig that involve less pollution, creating more green spaces, less driving time on the road, business improvements and revenues in property taxes. The paper reaches the conclusion that while there were many blunders associated with this project, the Big Dig allows Boston to move into a new future.

Outline:
The Challenges
The Costs
Benefits
Was It Worth It?

From the Paper
"Boston traffic was once considered to be one of the worst cities in which to drive due to intense traffic problems. They Central Artery opened in 1959, designed to carry approximately 75,000 cars per day. As time went on, the highway had to support nearly 200,000 cars per day (Massachusetts Turnpike Authority). This created a sticky jam for Boston motorists as traffic crawled along the highway for more than ten hours every day. Traffic accidents climbed to more than four times the national average, as the congestion spilled into the tunnels and other streets (Massachusetts Turnpike Authority). Boston became known for its traffic problems, not the opportunities that it had to offer."

Tags:traffic, congestion, engineering, contractors, construction, public

Abstract
This paper explains that Big Dig, a state-of-the-art eight-to-ten-lane expressway, for the most part underground or underwater, will run through downtown Boston and the Ted Williams Tunnel to Logan Airport. The paper reviews three areas of environmental concern: The digging and dumping of the dirt, mitigation and air quality. The author points out that the mitigation aspect of the project protects the city from devastating noise disruption, dust, traffic gridlock and economic damage.

From the Paper
"There are other benefits as well. According to Daniel Wood of Public Roads Magazine, the Big Dig will be "good news for the local shellfish population because of the construction of an artificial reef in Boston Harbor" (Public Roads). The reef, created in collaboration with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is designed to compensate for filling in over one acre of blue mussel habitat in the harbor during the closing and capping of the former municipal landfill on Spectacle Island. Wood also says that, "As the northernmost artificial reef system in the United States, the complex is expected to become home to lobsters, crabs, and finfish, as well as the displaced blue mussels" "

Tags:underground, underwater, downtown, parks, airport

Abstract
The paper goes through all parts of the dig, including the methodology, previous research, budget and early history of the Effingham County (the County of Excavation) in Georgia. The paper relates that the excavation would be concentrated historically and culturally on the Salzburgs and early Native American tribes of the county.

Tags:anthropology, georgia, excavation

Abstract
This paper focuses on Boston's Big Dig Project, one of the most expensive and controversial highway projects in the United States. The paper explains that this large project rerouted the Central Artery (Interstate 93), the main highway running through Boston, into a 3.5 mile tunnel under the city, and included the construction of the Ted Williams Tunnel, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, and the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the space vacated by the previous I-93 elevated roadway. The paper notes that the project resulted in commitments of over $7 billion in private investment, including 7700 housing units, 10 million square feet of commercial space and 2600 hotel rooms, supporting 43,000 more jobs in Boston. Finally, the paper refers to the study's conclusion, which indicates that it will take years before the full impact of the project on travelers, access, and the economy is fully measurable, but the results to date are very positive.

From the Paper
"The economic plan for the project called for improvement of the traffic flow in the Central City, better access to the underutilized South Boston Seaport area, and improved urban design and quality of life in areas that had been cut off or overshadowed by the elevated highway structure.
"The excavation, tunneling, and road and bridge project is as wide as an interstate highway, and was built through unstable landfill, nine railroad tracks, glass and steel office towers, and many fragile, older brick buildings. Above all, it was built without destroying historical buildings or disrupting the city's business."

Tags:Zakim, Greenway, tunnel, interstate, 93, construction

Abstract
This paper looks at how the poem "Digging" is one of Seamus Heaney's earlier and cruder poems, reflecting a much rougher style. It looks at how his themes are very direct and the impact created is not as significant as some of his later work. It discusses how the poem reflects an internal struggle as Heaney comes to terms with his career, that of a poet, and breaks with his family tradition of farming.

From the Paper
"Heaney's poem has a quality of honesty, as it conveys farm life as it really is, rather than a cover-up. He portrays it as hard work, performed with simple pride, with no pretensions whatsoever, amongst "the cold smell", "the squelch and slap". He relives his childhood experience, yet he doesn't want to follow in his forefather's footsteps. Though his roots are farming, he honestly admits that he has "no spade to follow men like them". His reason for choosing another vocation is not that he feels it is beneath him or ashamed of it, rather on the contrary, he feels great pride for his family traditions. However, he feels that he is not cut out for that life, and since he has more choices than his father or grandfather had, he exercises those choices."

Tags:farmer, ireland, irish, laureate, nobel

Abstract
This paper explores Thomas Hardy's poem "Ah, are you digging on my grave?" The paper explains Hardy's concept of death and highlights the poem's satirical tone. The paper notes that the poem also contains autobiographical elements.

From the Paper
"Ah Are You Digging on My Grave." In his poem "Ah Are You Digging on My Grave" by Thomas Hardy, the poet challenges Western society's conventional beliefs about death. Aparna Zambare writes in Library Journal that in this work as in some of Hardy's other poetry, the dead still have a voice. In the poem the deceased is a woman who at the opening of the poem senses a shifting in the earth above her grave."

Tags:thomas hardy, poetry, point of view, characterization death

Abstract
This paper discusses the Irish poet ,Seamus Heaney, who is the most prolific poet of our times and one of the best Irish literary figures to emerge after Yeats. The author points out that "Digging" refers to "a passion" that give a meaning and purpose to life. The paper examines his unassuming, non-aggressive approach that makes his work standout among heaps of conventional political poems. The references are annotated.

From the Paper
"Born in 1939, Seamus rose to the heights of international fame when his first collection of poems appeared in 1966 titled, "Death of the Naturalist". It was in this collection that his most widely read poem appeared which gives a reason to believe that Seamus' past is important to him and his rural background has always been a source of pride. This is one reason why we notice references to his past deeply embedded in many of his poems most noticeably in Digging, a poem that talks about Seamus' life on a farm in Mossbawn, a place "30 miles northwest of Belfast"."

Tags:irish, yeats, passion, meaning, purpose, life, style, unassuming, non-aggressive, political

Abstract
This paper briefly describes the archaeological find of Elizabeth Wayland Barber and her team of fellow archaeologists along the rim of the Tarim Basin, also known as the 'Silk Road'. The paper then critically reviews Barber's book about the find, "The Mummies of Urmuchai" and the conclusions Barber drew, based on the evidence she gathered, about the geographical origins and practices of the mummies of Urmachai.

From the Paper
"The Chinese archeologists who uncovered the gravesite at Cherchen were at first unaware of what they had found. These graves contained extremely tall, apparently Caucasian bodies that were later dated as over 3,500 years old, despite the fact that they were so well preserved. This preservation was not entirely by design, although the corpses were painted with yellow lines that were intended to have preservative qualities. The extraordinary preservation was also accomplished by luck and happenstance-the graves had been cut into a salt bed that speeded the process of desiccation, or preservation by packing in salt."

Tags:migration, fabric, intact, corpse, preserved, physical, remains, nomads, herders, textile

Abstract
This ten-page paper presents a discussion about the archaeological proof that there was Christianity in Northern Europe between 600BC and 1000 AD. The author takes us on an exploratory journey in which the reader sees evidence; both concrete and anecdotal that shows a Christian trend within that time frame.