BOSTON GROUNDWATER TRUST, INTERNET BULLETIN BOARD

1. The Underground Environment
1. Particular Sites of Groundwater Problems

BUILDINGS DAMAGED (a partial list)

Please add any other information.

Boston Public Library	1890’s	underpinned
Christian Science Mother Church	1960’s	underpinned
Belvedere Street	1979	torn down. Parking lot today.
Hemenway Street	1998	torn down. Playground today
China Town (8 & 10 + 2 more Hudson St.)	1989	Demolished. Vacant lot today
China Town (6 Hudson Street)	1989	damaged
China Town (23 Hudson Street)	1989	damaged
Brimmer Street (about 50 houses)	1988	underpinned

GsG 12/5/02

 

2. Self Help strategies
3. Climate and Weather
4. Infrastructure Issues
5. Integrity of Wooden Piles

Wood piles exposed to air are soon inflicted with so-called "brown-rot". A rare disease for wooden piles is so-called "gray-rot" which happens under water. This disease is much slower in its damage, and a building owner may have decades to deal with the problem. Underpinning may be necessary, but that will last another hundred fifty years before the problem returns. Gray-rot occurs in certain environmental conditions, and is slightly contagious. GsG 9/10/03

2. The City and other Governments
1. Boston City Government
2. The Boston Groundwater Trust
3. Massachusetts State Government
4. The United States Government

We now have posted the WPA map from the 1930’s. The Works Progress Administration was a federal program during the Depression to help unemployed workers. In this case it was unemployed civil engineers who found work installing wells and reading them. Does anyone know the names of any of the engineers who worked on this project? GsG 11/8/02

5. Lawsuits
3. The Internet
1. This Website

Coming soon: We have received groundwater data from the Prudential Center, the Boston Public Library, and the Southwest Corridor Project. This data will soon be incorporated into the map of readings. GsG 11/8/02

2. Other Websites