SAUGUS, Mass. — Tonight FOX25 Investigates is getting results after we started asked questions about a loose sewer drain cover on a state road.
Our Sharman Sacchetti has found a contractor is now suspended from the job, and a full review ordered to. Be completed after the cover wasn't properly secured. This happened this morning on Route 1 in Saugus.
A state trooper noticed a loose sewer drain cover near the main street exit during the busy rush hour commute and called for state crews to fix it. We have since learned the contractor hired by the state to work on resurfacing this part of the road may have failed to correctly set the sewer drain cover back in the casting - leaving it loose on this heavily traveled roadway.
When we started asking questions, we found that subcontractor, Tango Construction of Fitchburg, is now suspended from any work until a full review.
In a statement, MassDOT tells us "the primary contractor for the paving work, Brox Industries of Dracut, Tango Construction, and the MassDOT project supervisor, have been ordered by MassDOT to provide a report concerning what may have occurred to have left this cover in a loosened condition. "
This comes months after the death of Caitlin Clavette, who was killed when a manhole cover became airborne and blasted through her car on I-93 in a big dig tunnel.
After that, hundreds of manhole covers in the downtown Boston area, were inspected right away.
The ones in the metropolitan highway system, in the tunnels, are supposed to be inspected every two years.
While some inspections happen more frequently than that, it's not the case for all manhole covers across the state.
And ten miles from Boston, here in Saugus, MassDOT confirms to me this sewer drain cover on route one was not inspected after that deadly accident in February.
We know it's owned by the town of Saugus, but with state work underway around it, it's unclear when the last inspection happened.
MassDOT Highway Administrator Tom Tinlin also says they are inspecting other manhole cover sites in construction zones on route one to ensure they're properly sealed.
But as FOX25 has reported, nobody keeps a record of manhole cover inspections except for those in the tunnels in the Boston area because it's part of the big dig.