BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority announced Thursday that the inspection of most of the tunnels was nearing completion and that it had canceled one of its $200 million contracts.

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Jack Harper Reports On Big Dig

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that the Big Dig ended its contract with Honeywell Corp.

Honeywell built the brains of the "smartest highway" -- the camera and the emergency alarm system. But when it came to enhancing the system and finishing the job, Big Dig officials say they failed.

"They came up woefully short in this endeavor, costing them a lot of money and then having to leave by not finishing their contract," said Turnpike Chairman Matt Amorello.

The Big Dig says bailing out of the contract will cost Honeywell about $40 million. They insist in the end, the job will be completed with another contractor for less money.

"We lost confidence in their ability to finish the work, and we felt the right thing to do was end our relationship with them. We'll continue to work with other contractors," said Interstate 93 Manager Mike Lewis.

Officials said the inspection of the walls in the I-93 tunnel is almost complete.

"We want to remind you that based on our findings, none of the new suspect panels are of the type that would cause severe problems that the September panel did. There is no safety issues in the tunnel at all," said Keith Sibley, of contractor Bechtel-Parsons.

The newly opened Leverett Connector tunnel is working as planned.

"That is operating beautifully. There had been some problems downstream of that tunnel associated with emergency repair that the MassHighway has been undertaking at the end of the Tobin Bridge," said Mike Swanson, of the Central Artery.

Those emergency repairs should be done very soon, so officials expect the flow at Leverett Circle to improve.