BOSTON - The Massachusetts governor took over inspections of the "Big Dig" on Friday after a tunnel collapse in the highway system killed a woman inside and raised safety worries over America's costliest public works project.
Gov. Mitt Romney signed an emergency bill giving him broad powers over the inspections and reducing the oversight responsibilities of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, a semi-public agency whose chairman is under pressure to resign.
Romney, a potential Republican White House contender, now has authority over records and staff as well as inquiries on the 242 potentially dangerous ceiling bolt fixtures discovered this week in the tunnel that collapsed. The decision to reopen the tunnel is now his.
The governor met with federal and local inspectors at the area where a 38-year-old woman was killed late on Monday when a three-tonne concrete ceiling panel crushed her car. Romney said the tunnel would open "when it is entirely safe."
Also on Friday, U.S. transportation officials expanded their investigation into the collapse.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending more engineers and the agency's director of highway investigations to the site.
"This tragic accident raises some serious safety issues that require independent investigation," said Mark Rosenker, the acting chairman of the panel.
The NTSB is an agency independent of the U.S. Transportation Department -- which is also investigating the collapse. Safety board investigators will try to determine the likely cause. Its major investigations usually include public hearings.
The collapse occurred in a new tunnel that connects Boston's Logan airport to downtown. The nearly completed $15 billion highway project called the "Big Dig" has been marred by construction and quality control problems.
There have been leaks and falling debris but Monday's incident was the first that killed a motorist. The collapse triggered outrage from Bostonians fed up with faulty work, scandal, and questionable oversight.
Federal and state highway and criminal investigators are also probing the collapse.
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