Where we stand

Last March we learned that Montgomery County MD had contracted with local (Washington, D.C.) engineering firm KCE to evaluate extensive cracking in the yet-to-be-opened Silver Spring Transit Center. KCE's report (which can be downloaded from Montgomery County's website at http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/content/dgs/SSTC-STRUCTURAL-REPORT.asp ) attributes the extensive cracking to errors and omissions by the SSTC's builder/contractor Foulger Pratt, the engineer/designer Parsons Brinkerhoff and the concrete tester/inspector and special quality inspector Balter Co. Besides the extensive cracking, KCE's report addresses other serious flaws: slabs more than an inch thinner than the 10 inches thick slabs called for in construction documents, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement and other construction, design and inspection and testing flaws. Since release of the KCE report last March, other flaws have been discovered: 250 beams that are under-designed, leaks, etc. We also learned that Montgomery County intends to add a two inch thick latex concrete overlay to the SSTC in spring 2014 after freezing temperatures have passed. 

Besides being seriously flawed and overdue, the SSTC is over-budget. (More than half of the funding for the SSTC are federal funds.) Montgomery County officials and their paid consultants have also made numerous public statements about the safety of the SSTC since last March. Notably missing from these public statements and media reports is an announcement for a public meeting(s) where those paying for the SSTC (you and me) are given the opportunity to ask County officials our questions and to make our comments for the record. 

We're entitled to answers to our questions. After all, the SSTC is OUR transit center. We're paying for it. However, there are no indications at present, either from Montgomery County's public statements or from media reports, that Montgomery County will schedule a public meeting(s) so that our questions can be answered and our comments can be heard for the record. So much for transparency in government.