WMATA's engineers are right

WMATA's engineers are right to be balking over taking over the operation and maintenance of the Silver Spring Transit Center. There are fundamental flaws with the SSTC that can’t be fixed. One of the biggest flaws is the lack of expansion joints.

Standard construction practice requires expansion joints in structures that are subject to temperature change. WMATA construction standards (to which the SSTC were supposed to have been designed and built) require expansion joints every 100 feet. The 580 ft. by 315 ft. SSTC has none.

An article in Structure Magazine describes why expansion joints are necessary in parking garages:
http://www.structuremag.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/C-StrucDesign-Iqbal-Oct101.pdf
"The purpose of an expansion joint is to reduce build-up of volume change (VC) stresses and the associated structural distress. An expansion joint is considered a necessary evil because omitting an expansion joint where it is needed creates a risk of structural distress."

When unaccommodated by expansion joints, “volume change stresses” caused by temperature changes will result in “associated structural distress”, i.e. the concrete cracks (fails). Sound familiar?

Question: How does one fix the problem of no expansion joints in the SSTC?
Answer: You can’t. The SSTC is “cast in concrete” (the concrete has cured). You can’t go back and retrofit expansion joints into a hardened concrete building.

So, WMATA’s engineers are right:
   1. the SSTC is cracked, and likely will continue to crack, because there are no expansion joints. 
   2. Expansion joints can’t be added to a completed concrete building.  
   3. An after-the-fact, latex concrete overlay won't fix the underlying, fundamental problem (see #1 and #2)