Hi

*****UPDATE*****
10/18/2014

Why this blog?

1. When I saw the first media reports of construction problems at the Silver Spring Transit Center, I downloaded the (KCE) structural report from Montgomery County's website and read it. While I suspect that very few have read the report, I did, largely because of my background: retired PE (professional engineer); civil engineering degree (1968, Villanova University); and 40+ years working for engineering firms, most of them in metropolitan Washington, D.C.    
2. In following news media (print, TV, radio, internet) reports for the SSTC I found many technical inaccuracies and misstatements. This blog is my way of "setting the record straight", although I suspect that few who are following this story know that this blog exists.  
3. IMHO the SSTC is a threat to public safety. News media have reported carte blanche Montgomery County's and its paid and unpaid consultants' numerous statements that "the SSTC will absolutely be safe". Needless to say, the objectivity of Montgomery County and their paid and unpaid consultants is questionable.     
4. "Repairs" to the SSTC won't fix the problem. The SSTC's total lack of expansion/contraction joints is the problem. Without expansion joints the SSTC will continue to crack.    
5. In addition to being a civil engineer, I have been, and continue to be, a taxpayer. As a taxpayer, I object to Montgomery County, MD using my federal tax dollars in the manner that they have. The SSTC's builder/contractor, Foulger Pratt, design engineer, Parsons Brinkerhoff, and concrete tester/inspector, Balter Co. were selected non-competitively to build, design and inspect the SSTC. I object to Montgomery County using my (federal) tax dollars for "back room" deals (crony capitalism). Backroom deals for large public works contracts don't pass the "smell test". How and why Montgomery Co. noncompetitively chose these three companies, and whether political contributions were part of the process have not been addressed. Shame on the news media that touts that they cover stories "in-depth" and ask "probing questions".     
6. I object to the way that Montgomery County has used my federal tax dollars to "repair" the SSTC without holding public meetings where those paying for the SSTC can ask their questions and make their comments on the public record.    

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Hi. I’m a retired civil engineer. I was born in Washington, D.C. in 1946. I live in metro DC, where I raised my family and have lived for most of my life. My maternal grandfather was born in Washington, DC, lived and worked in Washington DC, and raised his family (including my mother) in Washington DC. In the later years of his life, after my grandmother died, he lived with my two aunts at their home in Silver Spring, MD  near Georgia Ave. and Colesville Rd. I enjoyed visiting and staying with them as a boy, listening at night to the trains. A lot has changed in Silver Spring over the last 60 years; but, you can still hear the trains at night in downtown Silver Spring. 

In March of this year when I read about the construction problems with the Silver Spring Transit Center (a.k.a. Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center), I was shocked. These problems are well documented in media reports (internet search “Silver Spring Transit Center”) and in reports on Montgomery County’s website (http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/content/DGS/DBDC/RegionalProjectPages/SilverSpringProjects/sstc.asp). Despite media reports and technical reports on Montgomery County's website (“Silver Spring Transit Center Structural Evaluation of Superstructure with Exhibits” and “WMATA Report - EVALUATION OF SILVER SPRING TRANSIT CENTER”), questions remain: 

1. Why did Montgomery County select Foulger-Pratt to build the Silver Spring Transit Center?

2. Why did Montgomery County select Parsons Brinkerhoff to perform engineering design and prepare construction plans for the SSTC?

3. Why did Montgomery County select the Balter Company to provide concrete inspection and testing for the SSTC?

4. Were political contributions part of the selection process?

5. Why was Montgomery County’s on-site construction management team seemingly unaware of the SSTC’s severe flaws (extensive concrete cracking, thin slabs, under-reinforced slabs, slabs missing reinforcement entirely, etc.) during construction? (If the on-site construction management team was aware of these severe flaws during construction, then why didn’t they report the problems sooner? If they did report the problems in a timely fashion, then why weren’t the problems addressed in a timely fashion?)

6. Does Montgomery County feel that they have been good stewards of the public trust (including expenditure of public funds) in their handling of the selection of the builder/contractor, the engineer/designer and the concrete inspection and testing firm for the SSTC and the ensuing design and construction? (More than half of the funding for the $120+ million SSTC are federal funds making us ALL stakeholders in the severely flawed SSTC.)

7. Does Montgomery County expect the public to believe that the SSTC is safe, and will not be exorbitantly expensive to maintain in the future, without assurance from independent experts (not hired by Montgomery County), and answers to these questions? (The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), another public agency involved in the project, and guardian of the public trust, should also be asked this question (substituting “WMATA” for “Montgomery County”).

More than six months after the serious flaws with the yet-to-be-opened SSTC were made public, these questions have yet to be answered. Will they ever be? Time will tell.

These photos are from the two technical reports cited above:

In 1968 I received my civil engineering degree. In 1973 I obtained my first license to practice engineering in the District of Columbia. In my 40 year career practicing civil engineering in Maryland and other states, I've NEVER seen anything like this. It's an outrage for the public to pay top dollar for a brand new, state-of-the-art transit center, and to be delivered a severely flawed product in return. It's an outrage that Montgomery County presses ahead with repairs to a brand new structure without a single public meeting to explain to those who paid for it (you and me) what they're doing and why. It's an outrage that the federal government (more than half of the funding for the SSTC are federal funds) isn't conducting a complete investigation of the severely flawed SSTC. It's an outrage that the media simply regurgitates Montgomery County's public statements (press releases, videos of Montgomery County Council, Executive and staff, etc.) without the "In-depth reporting" and "probing questions" that the media claims. It's an outrage that the public at large hasn't demanded an explanation for the SSTC's severe flaws, including how the builder/contractor, the engineer/designer and the concrete inspector/tester and special quality inspector were selected. It's an outrage that an INDEPENDENT investigation by those NOT involved in the project so far, and are NOT being paid for by Montgomery County, isn't being conducted to INDEPENDENTLY determine the safety and long term viability (maintenance costs, etc.) of the severely flawed SSTC.