A $14.6 billion highway construction project in Boston left steel and concrete as waste, just to be headed for the landfill. But Pedini, a 51-year-old civil engineer thought it better to recycle these top-shelf materials into a public housing project, municipal parking garage, prison, even as a replacement bridge, then junking the stuff.
And hence, the frame of the ‘Big Dig House‘, as rightly named got erected in just three days. The home is 4,300-square foot — which cost $645,000 to build, and is situated atop a hill in Lexington, a tony suburb about 12 miles west of Boston.
Pedini saved Modern $20,000 that would have been needed in demolition and dumping fees. The dismantled highway pieces are recycled and comprised of concrete slabs, each about 40 feet long and weighing up to 25 tons are used to make the floors and roof. 600,000 pounds of steel and concrete are also used, beside the new materials used to build the rest of the home.
