Once upon a time there was a kingdom—a vast kingdom that stretched from sea to shining sea. A tiny village in the vast kingdom decided to build a castle in their tiny village. Instead of searching the vast kingdom for the best castle-builders in the kingdom, the tiny village decided to pick their friends to build the castle. Villagers from the tiny village went to all of the other villages in the vast kingdom to collect money to build their castle--even though most people in the other villages in the vast kingdom would never even see, much less use, the tiny village’s castle.
When the castle was almost done, the tiny village discovered that the castle had been built all wrong. Villagers from the tiny village went to all of the other villages in the vast kingdom to collect money to fix the castle, even though the other villages in the vast kingdom had nothing to do with building the tiny village’s castle--that was built by the tiny village’s friends, and that was all messed up. In fact, many of the other villages in the vast kingdom had craftsmen who could have built the castle correctly for far less money than the tiny village spent on their messed-up castle.
Villagers from all of the other villages in the vast kingdom paid to fix the tiny village’s messed-up castle, and their children paid, and their grandchildren paid, unhappily ever after.
The end.
This well-informed comment to a Washington Post article
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/silver-spring-transit-center-will-require-additional-repairs-county-says/2013/11/19/5fe73b1a-514b-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_allComments.html)
merits re-posting here:
"Pashaspop wrote:
11/21/2013 11:10 AM
EST
How much worse can this possibly get. Now we are told that 250 beams
and girders need strengthening. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY underdesigned beams and
girders!
Well with last week's fix, if you are going to add 2 inches of
Latex Modified Concrete to the deck to cover, but not fix, the deck cracks, you
have just added 25 psf to the structure dead load and decreased the available
live load capacity (for the buses) by a similar amount, without strengthening
anything. Better had strengthen the entire structural framing given the likely
defects found everywhere else.
And the MoCo excuse that we really didn't
know about this because we were focused on the deck fix. Pathetic. Read the KCE
report, it's all there. KCE Principal Allyn Killsheimer is hardly known as a
'shrinking violet'. He would have explained the problem fully in no uncertain
terms. Couldn't get the Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) design calculations until late
October, six months after asking for them. What! It takes one day to photocopy
them, one day to put in 3-ring binders, and one day to ship with a nice cover
letter. MoCo have PB under contract and can order them up at once. Why were they
not submitted with the design documents for the record/permitting
anyway?
As a Federal/MD/MoCo taxpayer I am appalled at the attitudes and
behaviors alround. And we taxpayers are still not off the hook, despite the MoCo
Council comments to the contrary. Who is paying/going to pay for the specialist
legal advice needed now. Both contractor Foulger Pratt and designer PB intend to
fight claims with MD/MoCo. Will any settlement cover our full costs and will it
be conducted in public view. Unlikely, so we will continue paying and likely
stuck with a future bill.
High time for the Feds to step in. In fact
where are they since half the money is theirs.
Congress goes on about
stopping 'waste, fraud and abuse', well here is a great example 200 yards from
DC. Congressman Van Hollen?"
There are many unanswered questions involving the seriously-flawed SSTC. I invite you to add your questions to the following list by using the comment feature at the end of this post. I’ll do my best to get your questions and mine to the independent investigator, should an independent investigation come to be. (This will happen if you and I demand an independent investigation directly from our elected representatives and through your and my public comments to media reports.)
1. Why did Montgomery County select Foulger-Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it, and Balter Co. to inspect and test concrete and to function as special quality inspector?
2. Why did so few firms respond to Montgomery County’s invitation to submit qualifications to design and build the SSTC?
3. Were political contributions part of the selection process?
4. Why wasn’t the SSTC bid for construction, as has been standard practice for public works’ projects for decades?
5. Why was Montgomery County with their full-time, onsite construction management team, their periodic inspections from other Montgomery County personnel, their being owner of record for the SSTC, and having the responsibility to issue construction permits and monitor construction within Montgomery County, seemingly unaware of the serious design, construction and inspection/testing flaws with the SSTC, until the construction was essentially complete?
6. Given that more than half of the funding for the SSTC is federal funding, how does Montgomery County justify the tens of millions of dollars in existing and future budget overruns, repair costs, administrative costs, legal fees, excessively high maintenance costs, etc. that taxpayers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia must pay for the seriously-flawed SSTC?
7. Is WMATA looking out for their patrons’ and taxpayers’ interests in taking over future operation, maintenance and ownership of the seriously-flawed SSTC?
8. Why did Parsons Brinkerhoff fail to meet their contract requirement that the SSTC be designed to meet WMATA criteria? Why are there no expansion joints in the 580 ft. by 315 ft. SSTC? (WMATA criteria require expansion joints spaced no more than 100 ft. apart.) As designed, why are some beams (approximately 250) under-designed, i.e., cannot take design loads within allowable design stress limits? Why wasn’t Montgomery County aware of these failures sooner?
9. Why did Foulger-Pratt and its subcontractors fail to meet contract requirements and normal standard of care in building the SSTC, e.g., slabs that are more than one inch less thick than called for, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, concrete that is understrength and overstressed because of too much water added onsite, improper cold weather curing and greater post-tensioning than called for, etc. Why wasn’t Montgomery County aware of these failures sooner?
10. Why did Balter Co. fail to conduct concrete inspection and testing and special quality inspection in accordance with contract requirements and normal standard of care? Why wasn’t Montgomery County aware of these failures sooner?
Please use the comments feature to add your questions to the list. The questions can serve as the "blueprint" for the independent investigator (excuse the pun).
Thank you.
• We don’t know why Montgomery County selected Foulger-Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it, and Balter Co. to inspect and test concrete and to function as special quality inspector.
• We don’t know why so few firms responded to Montgomery County’s invitation to submit qualifications to design and build the SSTC.
• We don’t know if political contributions were part of the selection process.
• We don’t know why the SSTC wasn’t bid for construction, as has been standard practice for public works projects for decades.
Why doesn’t Montgomery County tell us? Is there a cover-up?
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU3N9VrY-ODIxQ55-j3r8IlMK2J4-RxMqz_PIPdTdLZIzCOvV4h0Ibtym-bCWvk-tBs3NQaI9kHPioflNpuhDni8bpRQyj-nJx18JKUsAWowKA06Ae6LyuhvSqACoARz5o4ss-AMM8ye0/s1600/government-cloak-of-secrecy-open-government.JPG
http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/Silver-Spring-Transit-Center-delayed11-21-2013
Can the SSTC be "fixed"? Will the latex modified concrete overlay “fix” the widespread cracking and thin slabs? There are no expansion joints in the 580 ft. x 315 ft. SSTC; WMATA requires expansion joints spaced no more than 100 feet apart. Will it continue to crack? Will Montgomery County want to spend more “fixing” it if it does?
Besides cracking and thin slabs, we continue to learn about more problems with the SSTC. It leaks. 250 beams need to be strengthened because, as designed, they are incapable of taking design loads. Some concrete in the SSTC is overstressed and understrength because water was added onsite, it wasn’t cured properly in cold weather and more post-tensioning than called for was applied early on. Reinforcement is exposed is some places, and missing entirely in others.
Even if the SSTC can be “fixed”, at what cost? So far the SSTC has cost $120 million, and that’s not including repair work, future maintenance costs (which likely will be very high considering all of the SSTC’s flaws), court costs, Montgomery County’s continuing administrative costs, etc.
The SSTC is a "money pit". When will it end?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/silver-spring-transit-center-will-require-additional-repairs-county-says/2013/11/19/5fe73b1a-514b-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html
With all due respect, it’s a bit of a stretch for Mr. Leggett to say that it’s simply a matter of making sure that all the “t”s are crossed and “i”s are dotted. The brand new, yet-to-be-opened concrete SSTC isn’t supposed to be cracked from stem to stern. It’s not supposed to have slabs that are more than an inch less thick than what’s called for, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, concrete that’s overstressed and understrength, beams that, as designed, are unable to carry the design loads, etc. No, Mr. Leggett, this is more than about being picky. It’s about answering very serious questions about the SSTC’s structural worthiness and excessive costs for future maintenance. It’s about project oversight and managing the selection and performance of the designer, builder, inspector, and concrete tester. These aren’t little details; they’re basic responsibilities.
- 250 beams in the yet-to-be-opened Silver Spring Transit Center need strengthening
- The SSTC is cracked throughout before a single bus or car has used it
- Some SSTC concrete doesn't meet minimum strength requirements (too much water, improper cold weather curing, etc.)
- Post-tensioning forces were applied to the SSTC that exceeded those specified in the construction documents
- Some slabs in the SSTC are an inch or more thinner than 10 inches thick called for in construction documents
- There is exposed reinforcement in the SSTC
- Some reinforcement in the SSTC is missing entirely
- Concrete inspection and testing for the SSTC failed to meet contract requirements
- The 580 ft. by 315 ft. SSTC doesn't have expansion joints
- Some SSTC beams, as designed, are incapable of taking design loads
- Design for the SSTC failed to meet contract requirements (e.g. failure to incorporate WMATA requirements, as required by the contract documents)
Have you ever heard of such a thing? I haven't.
Would you accept a brand new car, that you paid retail for, with a frame that had to be strengthened before you drove it a single mile? I wouldn't.
Why would you accept a brand new transit center, that you paid retail for with your federal taxes, with all of these flaws? I wouldn't. You will, if Montgomery County has its way. Do something about it. Speak out.
Like peeling an onion, we're SLOWLY learning of all of the INCREDIBLE problems with the Silver Spring Transit Center.
http://www.gazette.net/article/20131119/NEWS/131119340/1124/montgomery-council-members-want-more-information-on-transit-center&template=gazette
250 BEAMS!!!
How many beams DON'T need to be strengthened?!?
Montgomery County and its consultants and WMATA and its consultant would have us believe that the SSTC is safe? I would NEVER certify to the public that the SSTC is safe based on what I've read and the photographs that I've seen in KCE's and WMATA's consultant's report (that can be found and downloaded on Montgomery County's website). And that was BEFORE I learned from this article that 250 beams need to be strengthened.
"Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At Large) of Takoma Park passed on a request from a constituent that the center be temporarily opened up for supervised tours so residents can see the work being done for themselves. (Montgomery County General Services Director David) Dise said he had gotten the same request and has asked the county attorney to look into it, but predicted that conducting such tours in what is still a construction site could raise “serious liability and legal issues.”
On the one hand, "the SSTC is safe"; but, on the other hand, residents touring it raises "serious liability and legal issues"?
HUH?!? REALLY?!?
You expect the public to believe that the SSTC is safe?!?
"'...for unique projects such as the transit center, the county will consult experts with experience on similar projects earlier in the process than happened with the Silver Spring facility,' he (Dise) said."
Good idea!!! not rocket science, but a GOOD idea!
DUH!!!
Why didn't Montgomery County do that BEFORE the SSTC was designed and built?
Councilman Phil Andrews: "The Silver Spring Transit Center is the 'biggest construction debacle in the county’s history.'" Hands down, Councilman Andrews; hands down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9HAn7DvTbI
Councilwoman Ervin, Of course you want the Silver Spring Transit Center to be safe. So do we, the public. With all due respect, Councilwoman Ervin, how do you KNOW that that the SSTC is safe?
We've heard Montgomery County's side. Mr. Dise also speaks for WMATA, another member of "the team". Is Mr. Dise completely impartial? Should those of us who may use the SSTC and those of us who have paid for the SSTC through fares, user fees and taxes trust assessments of the SSTC's structural worthiness and cost-effective maintainability by those who "have a dog in the fight"?
An INDEPENDENT investigation of the structural worthiness and maintenance costs by experts not paid for by Montgomery County, WMATA, or any other party that "has a dog in the fight" (including the State of Maryland) is needed. More than half of the funding for the SSTC comes from FEDERAL funds. The public deserves an INDEPENDENT investigation, not one conducted by or paid for by parties involved to-date in planning, securing funding, approval, oversight, design, construction, inspection/testing or any other aspect of the SSTC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vClrn6QkfLs
Henry Hailstock, Past President of the Montgomery County Branch NAACP, has it right. Taxpayers should be "pissed off".
Jim Shalleck, Republican lawyer, has it right. There should be an investigation--not by Montgomery County or the State of Maryland--an INDEPENDENT investigation into the possible misuse of FEDERAL funds.
Find out why Montgomery County selected Foulger-Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to provide the engineering design, and Balter Co. to provide concrete inspection and testing and special quality inspection. Was it an open process? Why wasn't the SSTC bid for construction, as has been standard practice for public works projects for decades?
An INDEPENDENT investigation should "follow the money". The independent investigation should address if political contributions were part of the selection process. The investigation should examine the numerous design, construction, testing/inspection, and oversight errors and omissions to determine if criminal negligence and misuse of public funds were involved.
Mr. Hailstock and Mr. Shalleck have it right. A few "pissed off" taxpayers have it right. Why aren't there more?
When concrete fails, it cracks. The Silver Spring Transit Center is cracked throughout.
When government fails to deliver a public works project on time and within budget, government fails. When the project involves more than 50% federal funding, then government has failed us all. When government and quasi-governmental agencies, eg, WMATA, don't protect the public's interest, including expenditure of the public's money, then government and quasi-governmental agencies have failed us all.
When media touts that they provide "in depth" reporting and ask "probing questions" but do neither, then media fails us all.
When we, the public, don't demand that government uphold the public's trust, and spend public money on public projects wisely, then we, the public, have failed.
Why did Montgomery County choose the builder/contractor, the engineer/designer and the private concrete inspection and testing firm for this project? Were political contributions part of the selection process? Were the builder/contractor, the engineer/designer and the concrete inspection and testing firm selected in an open process? Were ALL qualified companies encouraged to compete? If not, then why not? Why wasn't the project bid for construction, as has been standard practice for public works projects for decades? Why aren't the media and we, the public, demanding answers to these questions? Does the public's silence imply satisfaction with the status quo? If so, then shame on us.
