Workers removed 117 wall panels in the Callahan Tunnel overnight due to concerns that the frames holding them up had become corroded, raising the risk that they would fall into the roadway, transportation officials said this morning.

Dozens of workers spent seven hours examining the panels overnight, performing “pull tests” -- pulling on them from the top and bottom and to see if they were loose. If there was “any degree of looseness,” the panel was removed, said Frank DePaola, highway administrator for the state Department of Transportation.