While I might have been better off reading one of Swidey's magazine articles, this story was engaging enough even in its extended form.

> Based on the contract, Kiewit wouldn’t get paid for a section unless all the utilities had been stripped out and it was in what homebuyers and sellers refer to as “broom-clean condition.” After all, the tunnel’s ventilation, electrical, and transportation systems were so unwieldy that it would take months to dismantle them. It was hard to imagine how Kiewit could have delivered a broom-clean section if those utilities were still in place. But it was just as hard to imagine how crews could be safely sent in to remove the plugs once all those utilities were gone.

> Hoss was furious at Harald. Even after the divers had complained repeatedly in previous days about problems they were experiencing with the breathing system, Harald kept sending them back into the tunnel on the same system, reassuring them that they’d be fine.

> Is there any way we can use one of those diffuser heads to get air into the tunnel from the other side? He worried that the question might be laughed off for its naivete. Instead, one of his top engineers said the idea of off-shore ventilation was promising. It owed its viability, in large part, to the work the divers had done before Billy and Tim were killed. Because the divers had managed to remove three of the fifty-five safety plugs, the first three risers now offered a direct connection between the tunnel and the seabed.

> As far as Parker could tell, Harald stood to gain no bonus, no piece of the pie. Any financial gains for Norwesco would have accrued most directly to owner Roger Rouleau … The designer, contractor, construction manager, and tunnel owner all knew about the plug problem for years but failed to deal with it, instead sloughing it off on a small diving subcontractor. (Of course, Norwesco had chosen to take on the job even though two other established dive companies had declined to bid because of safety concerns.) ( )

I was in charge of getting these very rugged men to the tunnel site on Deer Island was former prison for the city of Boston,a former quarantine stop for Europeon immigrants,when clearing the Island for the treatment plant they uncovered numerous gravesites including Indian. A very mysterious place and only a mile from downtown Boston, all the islands in boston harbor are somewhat creepy as Poe and Dennis Lehane have written of them,after the prison was cleared they were practically over run by rats and extremely large ferile cats a very wild place for sure today it is a political hack's dream ( )

Why the heck would anyone want this job? Crazy. 9 miles of tunnels under the ocean. Only one way out. Sounds nuts. Well told story. Very engaging. Always a little leary of when they recreate conversations, but the end notes say everything was well sourced - so maybe close to the truth. Read like a fiction thriller. ( )

This book turned out to be about much more than the event references in the title: Five men, construction divers, encountered a disaster while trying to complete an engineering project in Boston Harbor. While Swidey does a fine job presenting all the heartbreaking details of the disaster's genesis and impact on the lives of those affected, he also goes a long way toward shining a light on the often-overlooked laborers whose efforts — and sometimes lives — are spent in building up the infrastructure all of us depend on.

3.5 Stars originally posted at http://readaholiczone.blogspot.com/

By reading the blurb I had come to the conclusion that the book was going to be about a team of divers and the tragedy that took place while they were in the tunnel causing two of the divers to perish, but this book is about a lot more than just the divers disaster. None the less, this read takes a close look at the unnecessary deaths of blue-collar workers caused by the almighty dollar that large corporations put before the worker who trusts them with their lives. Even though this was a high-risk job, human beings with families who loved them died due to pure incompetence. I think that laws need to be changed so that in obvious cases like this one, where the individuals whose neglectful actions end in someone's death, should do mandated jail time.

The book begins at the source of the original problem; Boston Harbor has raw sewage dumped into it, causing it to be “the dirtiest harbor in America” or as it was called “The Harbor of Shame”. Therefore, came a solution the second largest state of the art sewage plant would be built so the treated remains would go through the 9.8-mile tunnel under the sea floor and be discharged out into Massachusetts Bay. Well, as the book explains in great detail it was not that simple neither was the content of the book. As I explained above, it starts with the contaminated Boston Harbor and with an astounding explanation of every single fact that did not end until the individuals involved in the tragedy moved on with their lives.

This read is packed full of all types of facts and you will learn an abundance of assorted information from diving, how an underwater tunnel is built, all the different tools used in building the tunnel and used underwater, sandhogs, bag lines, breathable O2 mixtures and the consequences if they are not mixed right, the truth is this list could fill multiple pages. The author did a brilliant job of putting together all the facts about every aspect of what happened, but at times I felt bogged down with all the information. Therefore, the prose is not badly written it feels overwritten also containing an overabundance of facts.

Even though I am partial to non-fiction and enjoy learning new things I am torn by this book. It was not bad yet I did feel overwhelmed by it. I learned so much information that I did not know before, but with this book I found myself checking how much was left to read way too many times. This book is for a specific type of reader, one who thrives on this subject.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review." ( )