Having correctly guessed that failed epoxy anchors were the culprit behind Monday night’s Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapse, allow me to offer some new speculation. If I were a betting man, I would bet that investigators will learn that the contractors installed the ceiling anchors over the winter. Epoxy won’t cure to full strength when its components are much below room temperature. Even if they were pre-heated, the concrete lining of the tunnel would act as a massive heat sink and reduce the strength of the epoxy-to-concrete bond.

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