This is the single biggest project ever.

It outdoes the pyramids of Egypt.

Many of the records of the Egyptians are missing now. But the Boston records are laughably public. Some day, they will make great comedy; many, many years from now.

Sometimes it seems everything is involved: the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, its composition and its activities; the governor, Jane Swift and her composition and her activities; huge national construction companies like Bechtel enjoying riches beyond imagination, and some local companies as well; review companies making money by checking the way their own old company does business; legislative input; judicial overview; and all the victimized motorists who try, somehow, to get around the city every day.

No doubt the "Big Dig" project will sparkle when finished.

Anything that expensive will absolutely twinkle.

From the outside, when finished, it will have a glow, a ‘done-ness.’

But from inside, it is horribly confusing. It seems that’s exactly how some one, or some people, want it to seem. For example, in order to raise more money to pay for the ever more expensive ‘Big Dig,’ the governor - Acting Gov. Jane Swift - wants to press forward with a hike in the Massachusetts Turnpike tolls. All she needed to make that happen was to get the three-member Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to vote for it. But, lo and behold, two balked.

Members Jordan Levy and Christy Mihos said they did not like Swift’s plan. They had other revenue schemes that would bring in new money without squeezing more money out of the people who come into Boston from Worchester, Framingham and everywhere else via the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Nope, can’t do that, said the acting governor. Keep this up, she said, and she would have to dismiss them for "irresponsible behavior."

They stuck to their point: No rate hike like Swift’s.

She struck to her point: She got a ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court that the two Authority members could be removed, even though the two members are legislative appointees, not executive branch appointees. That judicial ruling in hand, Swift fired them.

No, no, no, Acting Gov. Swift, that’s not quite the gist of the ruling, noted the about to be ousted pair.

Swift won the ruling that Authority members, including legislative appointees, could be ousted for irresponsible behavior. But she was not invested with the power to decide what is irresponsible and what is not. If that were the case, every governor in every state could toss out anyone for anything at all. He or she blew their nose wrong, or brought out a critical report, or ran for governor – you’re out on your ear, pal.

Now the Supreme Judicial Court is looking at the case again, trying to see if Swift has any real case against these two under these precise circumstances. More will emerge regarding this situation as the two Authority members who have been ousted continue their appeal and business at the Massachusetts Turnpike goes on, ostensibly under the tutelage of Governor Swift, all while the high court deliberates and thinks the issue over.

But the fate of these two Bay State pols is hardly the whole story. It is a pittance, compared to the story as a whole. With new people in the Levy and Mihos seats, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority provided further evidence of the high standards upon which it operates.

MTA members were recently all set to bring aboard a new company that reviews how the actual ‘work-doers’ are doing. This ‘sounds sound,’ given the history up to this point. It was a no-bid contract. Or was it? Well, the turnpike people and the Highway Department weren’t quite so sure. So they’re thinking it over again. Now this is a fairly small contract. It’s for $275,000.

What was problematic was that the award went to the National Academy of Engineering, which would oversee the job that Bechtel/Parsons Brinckehoff, is currently undertaking at a projected cost of $14.5 billion. Now, with this ‘pittance’ of $275,000 for a review, the overall project cost will be that much higher.

State law allows contracts of $275,000 to go out without a bid, that is true under the guidelines for major projects like this one. But the new Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chief, Matthew Amorello, picked a very special winner for this contract.

The winning company is the National Academy of Engineering, a company in which two (of six) officers are formerly from the Bechtel group.

So two of the good old guys from Bechtel will be just the right choice to oversee the $14.5 billion, plus the $275,000 small change, that is being expended by their former employers. They will of course be able to do this because they are now independent.

How independent?

Back on Oct. 30, 2001, the Authority specifically called for bids on this contract. It was clear what the MTA wanted – a bid contract. It was not a question open for interpretation. It was a move to begin the process of bidding for the contract.

Now, since the MTA changes, it is a ‘no bid’ process. There is a certain echo that sounds like member Amorello is exhibiting, oh, shall we say, "irresponsible behavior."

Ah well, to make such an assertion must necessitate differing from Acting Gov. Swift’s interpretation of the term "irresponsible." Perhaps we should relax and assume that the Authority will straighten all this out, too, in accord with its proven track record.

But what worries the poor guy or gal who struggles in and out of Boston every day, or who pays with his or her taxes or tolls the cost of the ‘Big Dig,’ is not so much the Levy/Mihos flap, or even the projected $14.5 billion Bechtel budget, or the National Academy of Engineering’s $275,000 no-bid project review contract, but rather the most basic considerations.

How well built will the humungous ‘Big Dig’ combinations of tunnels and bridges, etc., actually be when it’s all over with and everything is open to the driving public? Will the bridges stand the test of time, heavy traffic and winds and elements? And will the tunnels be safe? Or will they leak and could they collapse?

Boston has already seen ‘Big Dig’ inspectors look at a bridge, scratch their heads and order all the metal cable connections redone. How many more of these potentially killer mistakes have happened? And, unfortunately, in our current world situation we must ask just how vulnerable the whole project is to a horrific bomb blast, or some other form of sabotage? Sadly we must recognize that any terrorist would salivate at the though of blowing up the earth’s biggest construction project.

But the final bottom line is the question of how much "irresponsible behavior" Massachusetts, and the nation itself, can stand in the creation of this huge project? That the project is and has been overloaded with politics is understandable due to the nature of the complex national and state backed funding that was required to begin the undertaking. That the potential for a political boondoggle existed everyone knew, and when the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was put in charge, anyone in the Bay State with any political savvy knew that some scandal was inevitable. And we haven’t been disappointed; a number of odorous issues have bubbled up and temporarily offended everyone, and then have been forgotten as the gigantic project lumbered forward toward completion.

Now, with Gov. Swift’s action, we see that scandalous decision-making is ongoing. Our level of mistrust in the expenses involved in the project and its level of construction quality are only enhanced by Ms. Swift’s political machinations. If Ms. Swift hopes to gain the governor’s office for an elected term of her own, she ought to take the ‘Big Dig’ as an opportunity and seek to show everyone that her first and foremost concern is the quality of the project, not favoritism of any sort. That approach would make most people feel less frustration when they feel their wallet being excavated by the ‘Big Dig.’