Water-soaked tile crashed to Harvard T platform, MBTA says; Video shows it nearly hitting a head
A soundproofing ceiling tile soaked with water fell at the Harvard Square red line station on Wednesday, coming dangerously close to crashing onto the heads of passersby on the station’s southbound platform, the MTBA said Friday.
The area was “quickly closed” so engineers could inspect the remaining panels and take away any that “posed an immediate safety concern,” the T said in a press release via social media. “We’re incredibly thankful no one was injured.”
The five-pounds aluminum panels went up around 1980 to improve the looks of the station and to add soundproofing. Engineers for the state transit agency said they found that over time water had accumulated in the panel’s insulated backing and corroded the metal rivets holding it in place. The panel that fell wound up weighing around 25 pounds before the rivets gave way. Video timestamps show the fall occurring at 3:54 p.m.
A Twitter user identified as Brandon Stokes said he got video of the moment the tile fell through a public records request:
Here’s just one angle of surveillance video just obtained through a public records request. @MBTA #MBTA https://t.co/9EwxbrqgUT pic.twitter.com/hMQpvZx3Dk
— Brandon Stokes (@brandonrstokes) March 3, 2023
“We’re removing the remaining non-structural panels as a precaution and so we can thoroughly investigate the ceiling and source of water intrusion,” T officials said.
There were no details given on the number of additional panels removed; an entire row was shown missing in photos released by the transit agency,
Stations with similar paneling are also being inspected to see if the problem might repeat there, the T said.
“The safety of our riders and employees is paramount. As such, we’ll make any necessary changes to the structures and panels to shield against future incidents,” T officials said.
Aging infrastructure has caused problems elsewhere on the line. In August 2018, around 500 spaces of the 2,500-parking-space garage at Alewife station was cordoned off after a chunk of ceiling concrete fell through the window of a car. No one was hurt. The garage opened in 1985.
There is an area in the ceiling above the southbound platform in Central Square that has been leaking ominously for years. Bono actually pointed it out on at least one occasion to T Operations officials following a meeting with the MBTA in Cambridge several years ago. (Nothing.) Their spokesman (read: cover-up specialist) Joe Pesaturo needs to go, for starters. Tired of hearing that clown’s bullshit. Then we need competent honest people to be brought in and put in charge, with the power to clean house. Fire people! (Are the Chinese Communist Party available?) Outgoing GM Steve Poftak was getting $366,000 a year… Are you shitting me?? (And we’ve got to keep sending billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine…! Hunh??) “Transit Oriented Density”?? Sounds more and more like a description of a severe mental health condition.
lolbono – We are out of money! Wait we printed 5trillion over the last years setting off a raging inflation and there isn’t money to even maintain what we have never mind something new.
The new gov is already wringing her hands planning on how to spend the millionaires tax money and it’s not even in yet! Mass lost about 200k residents over the last 2 yrs.
The best though is the plan for “surge pricing” for those pesky drivers trying to get to work all while the T literally falls apart.
We need more plastic pylons!!
This was very nearly a tragedy. I know Governor Healey has a lot on her plate, but fixing the T needs to be one of the top priorities. I’ve told friends from other cities that riding the Red Line is my daily adrenalin rush, because I can never be sure if I’ll make it to my destination alive.