PortMiami Tunnel Possibly Opening In August
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- An opening date has yet to be set in stone for the PortMiami Tunnel, but the opening may be soon.
Officials told CBS4's Cynthia Demos, the tunnel is expected to open around August 1st after they had already delayed the opening two months ago.
Two major reasons for the delay is the fiberglass pipe that was originally put in had cracked causing leaks.
There was also cracks in two fans so all 44 were taken out and x-rayed.
As of Wednesday, half of the new fans were put in place with 22 more to go.
Demos spoke to Chris Hodge with MAT Concessionaire. He is the vice president of the company that will run the tunnel.
DEMOS: "Two months after the big opening, we are here fixing problems with fans and pipes. Whose fault is it?
HODGE: "We don't' look at it as a fault. We look at it as safety. You can't push safety."
DEMOS: Because of the fiberglass pipes cracking because of heavy trucks, should someone have known that fiberglass wasn't the right material?
HODGE: "That's why we test everything."
There was fanfare for the opening of the tunnel two months ago, but now the contractor, is being fined and paying MAT Consorsium $115,000 a day. This means two months of delays equals 6 million in fines as of July 2014.
There is good news for the tax payer. Taxes dollars don't kick in until the tunnel is actually open.
Click here to watch Cynthia Demos' report.
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