BOSTON (AP) – The on-site safety officer for the Interstate 90 connector where a motorist was crushed by falling concrete warned his superiors in 1999 that the tunnel ceiling could collapse because the bolts could not support the heavy concrete panels, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.

John Keaveney wrote in a two-page memo to Robert Coutts, senior project manager for contractor Modern Continental Construction Co., that he could not “comprehend how this structure can withhold the test of time.”

“Should any innocent State Worker or member of the Public be seriously injured or even worse killed as a result, I feel that this would be something that would reflect Mentally and Emotionally upon me, and all who are trying to construct a quality Project,” he wrote.

In an interview with the Globe, Keaveney said his superiors at Modern Continental and representatives from Big Dig project manager Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the private sector manager of the Big Dig, assured him that such a system had been tested and was proven to work.

Andrew Paven, a spokesman for Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Modern Continental had no specific comment Wednesday. A spokesman referred to an earlier statement in which the company said it was cooperating fully and was confident the work fully complied with plans and specifications.

Coutts was on vacation and unavailable, a family member told the newspaper. Keaveney also did not immediately respond to a message.

Meanwhile, a different memo written in January 2000 noted “an apparent failure of the epoxy” for ceiling anchors being used in section of the I-90 connector tunnel where the concrete slab fell, the Boston Herald reported.

The failures occurred in the first 100 feet of the tunnel in a section adjacent to where the panels collapsed and killed Milena Del Valle.

The memo was written on Massachusetts Turnpike Authority letterhead and was copied to the state’s top Big Dig attorney at the time, Kurt Dettman, and Matt Wiley, the top project official for Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The January 2000 letter states the discovery of the epoxy problems resulted in “repairs and additional testing.”

The Herald reported that a separate memo that month indicated that bolt holes were not properly cleaned. “The capacity of all of the other anchor bolts is in question and will need to be addressed,” the memo said.

A connector tunnel system leading to the eastbound side of the Ted Williams, as well as ramps leading from the Boston end of the westbound section, have been closed since several 3-ton concrete ceiling panels in the connector tunnel crushed the car carrying Del Valle, 39, of Boston.

Investigators have been focusing their attention on the bolt-and-epoxy system holding up the ceiling panels, which weigh about 3 tons in the portion of the tunnel where the ceiling collapsed.

Attorney General Tom Reilly, who is conducting a criminal investigation of the accident, refused to comment specifically on the memo. A spokesman offered general comments indicating the probe was not just focusing on whistle-blowers, but how Modern Continental and Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff responded.

“Our investigators are poring through tens of thousands of documents as part of our ongoing investigation into the collapse,” said David Guarino, Reilly’s communications director. “As the attorney general noted last week, those documents show a substantial dispute in 1999 and 2000 over the epoxy anchor system in that location. We are continuing our investigation to determine what actions, in any, were taken by the companies involved after that dispute.”

Keaveney told the Globe his memo reflected collective concerns among ironworkers installing the ceiling and other Modern Continental employees.

He wrote the amount of weight being suspended from the ceiling appeared to be “excessive,” given that the bolts were “only inserted into concrete with epoxy.”

He also wrote that while workers were doing the project according to specifications, he worried that when the state took control of the tunnel, maintenance and vigilance would be neglected.

“My concerns are for that of the State when they assume control. They have a record of poor maintenance, and I just can envision that these sections will not receive the constant vigilance it would require,” he wrote.

Keaveney, 43, was paid a salary of $70,000 as the head of on-site safety in the I-90 connector. He has an engineering degree from University College Galway in Ireland. His letter was mailed to a Globe reporter without Keaveney’s knowledge. He verified it was his letter.

Keaveney said he really began to worry about the ceiling after a third-grade class from his hometown of Norwell came to visit the Big Dig for a tour in spring 1999. He showed the class some concrete ceiling panels and pointed to the bolts in the ceiling, explaining that the panels would one day hang from those bolts.

A third-grade girl raised her hand and asked him, “Will those things hold up the concrete?”

He started voicing concerns among his colleagues and then to managers after that. “It was like the (third-graders) had pointed out the emperor has no clothes,” he said. “I said, “Yes, it would hold,’ but then I thought about it.”

Keaveney’s eyes well with tears as talks of how he blames himself in part for Del Valle’s death.

“I failed to open my mouth. I failed to push the letter I wrote for results,” he said. “I am partially responsible for the death of this mother.”

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

AP-ES-07-26-06 1142EDT