The 17-page Independent Advisory Committee Report "...contains the relevant findings and recommendations of the group that was formed at the recommendation of the chair (Norman R. Augustine) in response to questions posed by the (Montgomery) County Executive (Isiah Leggett) ."
The report outlines the committee's limited scope in addition to its findings and recommendations: "...the County Executive sought advice on three specific issues: (1) the going-forward plan for completion of the Center; (2) the credibility of the currently projected “to-complete” costs; and (3) the viability of the currently projected schedule for completing proposed repairs."
The qualifications, experience and credentials of the 4-man committee are impressive. The report addresses the committee's limited scope adequately; however, IMHO, the report does not adequately address the SSTC's complete lack of expansion joints (one of the major findings in the KCE report) as the probable source of the SSTC's extensive cracking. Nor does the report address how to remedy the problem causing the extensive cracking (the SSTC's complete lack of expansion joints).
The report states in part: "Unfortunately, the extensive cracking that has been observed (as documented by KCE in its report e.g. at pages 6 and 7 and as observed by the members of the Committee during site visits) is viewed as unacceptable and is indicative of design and/or construction deficiencies. Unacceptable cracks are present in slabs, beams, girders and columns (pages 43-44 of KCE report).
The Committee understands that the current recommendation of KCE with respect to cracking is as follows. The Latex-Modified Concrete topping will cover the cracks in the top of the slabs. All other cracks that are subject to infiltration by water and/or corrosive agents (e.g., de-icing chemicals) will need to be repaired. Given the facility’s history, it can be expected that over time cracks will reopen and new cracks will appear. This will not affect overall structural integrity as long as these cracks are promptly treated as per designed by a structural engineer."
I agree with the committee that "...The Latex-Modified Concrete topping will cover the cracks in the top of the slab". I also agree that "All other cracks that are subject to infiltration by water and/or corrosive agents (e.g., de-icing chemicals) will need to be repaired." However, I find the next couple of sentences vague and unconvincing: "Given the facility’s history, it can be expected that over time cracks will reopen and new cracks will appear. This will not affect overall structural integrity as long as these cracks are promptly treated as per designed by a structural engineer."
The committee states that "Unacceptable cracks are present in slabs, beams, girders and columns (pages 43-44 of KCE report)"; however, the committee seemingly contradicts itself by further saying that "...over time cracks will reopen and new cracks will appear", and suggests these cracks are acceptable "as long as these cracks are promptly treated as per designed by a structural engineer".
Are existing cracks on the underside of decks and through beams, girders and columns acceptable or are they not? If they are unacceptable, as the committee previously states (and I agree), then what caused them, and can the cause be remedied? "...cracks are promptly treated as per designed by a structural engineer" is simply not specific enough to determine if the existing extensive cracking and the source of the cracking (the SSTC's complete lack of expansion joints) will be corrected. Without specifics I am unconvinced of the "overall structural integrity" of the Silver Spring Transit Center.
"On the evening of July 17, 1981, approximately 1,600 people gathered in the atrium to participate in and watch a dance competition.[6] Many people stood on the two connected walkways. At 7:05 p.m. the second-level walkway held approximately 40 people with more on the third and an additional 16 to 20 on the fourth level who watched the activities of the crowd in the lobby below.[4] The fourth floor bridge was suspended directly over the second floor bridge, with the third floor walkway offset several meters from the others. Construction difficulties resulted in a subtle but flawed design change that doubled the load on the connection between the fourth floor walkway support beams and the tie rods carrying the weight of both walkways. This new design was barely adequate to support the dead load weight of the structure itself, much less the added weight of the spectators. The connection failed, and the fourth-floor walkway collapsed onto the second-floor walkway. Both walkways then fell to the lobby floor below, resulting in 111 deaths at the scene and 219 injuries. Three additional victims died after being transported to hospitals, bringing the total number of deaths to 114.[7] ... The Hyatt tragedy remains a classic model for the study of engineering ethics and errors (as well as disaster management[23]).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyatt_Regency_walkway_collapse
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_N6lyTxj0
Unfortunately, it happens. Errors and omissions can lead to horrible disasters. KCE's report, that Montgomery County commissioned, and has been available on Montgomery County's website for more than a year, attributes the SSTC's total lack of expansion joints, its widespread cracking, slabs thinner than they're supposed to be, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, underdesigned beams, understrength and overstressed concrete, etc. to errors and omissions by the SSTC's contractor/builder, engineer/designer and concrete inspector/tester and special quality inspector.
Do you trust the opinions of only those who have been involved in the project, who have a lot to lose if the SSTC is deemed unsafe, and who are paid for by Montgomery County? I don't. I want the opinions of independent experts who haven't been involved in the project to date, who aren't paid for by Montgomery County, who don't have ties to this region (including its politics), and who don't have anything to lose (e.g., current or future business) by being totally objective, and finding that the SSTC is unsafe, if that's the case.
Finally, who's been controlling information that's been made public for the SSTC for the past year? ... primarily, politicians and the news media. Needless to say, neither politicians nor the news media are independent construction and/or engineering experts.
April 19, 2014
Montgomery Co. Executive
Montgomery Co. Council
Federal Transit Administration
Maryland Transit Administration
In March 2013 Montgomery County made public a report, which it commissioned, that documents severe flaws in the nearly-completed Silver Spring Transit Center. Among the severe flaws are widespread cracking of concrete slabs, beams, girders and columns, slabs that are more than an inch thinner than what they’re supposed to be, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, complete lack of expansion joints, under-designed beams, understrength and overstressed concrete, concrete curing failures, suspect concrete test reports, etc. The KCE report attributes the severe flaws to errors and omissions by the SSTC’s builder/contractor, engineer/designer and concrete inspector/tester and special quality inspector.
While it’s been more than a year since the SSTC’s numerous flaws were made public, questions regarding how and why a brand new structure could be so severely flawed remain unanswered. Even though I have more questions than those that follow, I respectfully request your answers to the following questions:
1. Why are you making repairs to the yet-to-be-opened SSTC? The public expects a brand new transit center; not a flawed transit center that, at the very least, even with repairs, will be expensive to operate and maintain.
2. Why haven’t public meetings been held to brief the public on what you’re doing, and why, and to answer the public’s questions and to obtain their comments on the public record?
3. Given that the SSTC’s widespread cracking is likely caused by its complete lack of expansion joints (documented in KCE’s report and reiterated by WMATA), why do you persist in pouring a two inch concrete overlay when the overlay will not address the underlying cause of the cracking problem (complete lack of expansion joints)?
4. Why wasn't the SSTC bid for construction, as has been standard practice for public works projects for decades?
5. Why weren’t decades-old, tried-and-true, competitive practices for selecting professional services firms used in selecting the SSTC’s engineer/designer and concrete inspector/tester/special quality inspector?
6. Were political contributions part of the selection process for the SSTC’s builder/contractor, engineer/designer and concrete inspector/tester/special quality inspector?
As you know, the Silver Spring Transit Center is funded by federal (53%), state (11%) and local (36%) public taxes and user fees.
Sincerely,
Ray Koenig
U.S. Citizen
http://www.mymcmedia.org/shalleck-on-silver-spring-transit-center-video/
Why can't we get answers? We're "paying the freight". More than $120 million in federal (53%), state (11%) and local (36%) PUBLIC funds have been spent on the Silver Spring Transit Center; and, the end is nowhere in sight. Why has Montgomery County proceeded with tens of millions in repairs without our input? What's wrong with asking the County why it's spending tens of millions in repairs to the brand new Silver Spring Transit Center that hasn't even opened publicly yet? We're not entitled to an explanation? Why hasn't there been a public meeting where we can ask our questions and provide our comments on the public record? Democrat, Republican, Independent, apolitical. Why should it make any difference who's asking the question? If we're "paying the freight", then we're entitled to answers to our questions, and to have our comments recorded on the public record, regardless of our political affiliation.
It may be nothing, Mr. Shalleck; but, the fact that we can't get simple answers to our simple questions doesn't pass the "smell test".
http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/Silver-Spring-Transit-Center4-10-2014
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/transit-center-report-public-at-risk-from-falling-concrete-without-additional-repairs/2014/04/29/90bdf8a2-cfca-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html NEW!!! (also read public comments to the article)
Can there be any doubt at all that the yet-to-be-opened, severely flawed Silver Spring Transit Center is a lemon?
Why should we, the public (local, state & federal), who paid and are paying for the SSTC, accept this lemon? If you had the misfortune of buying a brand new automobile that was a lemon, would you accept it? No. If you purchase any new product that is defective, what do you do? You take it back. Why should we accept a brand new transit center that is severely flawed, is under repair before it even opens, and will require an inordinate amount of public funds to operate and maintain it?
We're paying more than retail for a brand new, state-of-the-art transit center. 53% of the funding for the $120+ million (and counting!) SSTC are federal funds; 11% are MD state funds; and 36% are local Montgomery County funds. Montgomery County, the Federal Transit Administration and the Maryland Transit Administration are trying to ram the defective lemon SSTC down our throats without so much as a public meeting so that we can ask our questions and make our comments on the public record. That's a fine way to treat those who are paying the freight! Tell Montgomery County, the FTA and the MTA "NO!" to the defective lemon Silver Spring Transit Center.
Norman Augustine, former Lockheed Martin chairman, and chairman of a working team of independent engineering and development industry experts appointed by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett to advise him on repairs to the yet-to-be-opened, severely flawed Silver Street Transit Center.
St. Augustine, educator, author, philosopher, theologian
“Augustine is considered an influential figure in the history of education. … Augustine's understanding of the search for understanding/meaning/truth as a restless journey leaves room for doubt, development and change.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo
Archbishop Carroll High School, 4300 Harewood Road, NE Washington, DC
“Our school's founders intended it to be a model of academic excellence. To do so they asked the Augustinian fathers to run the school, which they did until 1989. St. Augustine remains our patron saint and a reminder of the erudition to which each of our students is called. His own life as a leading intellect in Roman North Africa lacked fulfillment until he united his learning with faith in God. He founded a monastery in which monks' treatment of each other was to reflect the love God had for each of them. So it is with Augustine as our inspiration that Carroll students are asked to take on a rigorous college preparatory academic program; to use what they learn to make the world around them a better place; and to learn every day how to reflect God's love for each of them in their kindness to each other.”
http://www.archbishopcarroll.org/historywe-are-carroll
Villanova University, Villanova PA
“The Augustinian Order has always been aware of the enormous influence that Saint Augustine’s legacy has exercised on its apostolate of higher education. This legacy is not so much a philosophical or theological system of thought as it is a dynamic vision of people living in community united in "mind and heart" in the ardent search of Wisdom. For Augustine this Wisdom is the Divine Truth itself, revealed in Jesus Christ, for which every heart is restless. As universal Wisdom, it is pursued in common with all humanity and is achieved by open, intelligent, responsible, and mutually respectful interaction of points of view. From its inception, the Order contributed to this search through its educational apostolate, motivated by Augustine’s own vision that "God would like to sow in every soul the seeds of intelligence and wisdom."
http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/mission/heritage/tradition.html
John 8:32
“… and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/moco-metro-remain-split-over-necessity-for-girder-and-beam-work-on-transit-center/2014/04/08/9bd280cc-bf59-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html
While MoCo and its consultants and METRO argue about torsion, the obvious is being missed. No one is arguing that the SSTC is severely cracked and no one is arguing that the SSTC doesn’t have expansion joints. These facts are well documented in KCE’s report that was commissioned by Montgomery County and has been available for viewing and downloading on Montgomery County’s website for more than a year.
Concrete buildings aren’t supposed to crack from stem to stern like the SSTC has. That the SSTC has cracked extensively before it even opens, and fully loaded buses start rolling across its decks, is even more troubling. Standard construction practice requires expansion joints for structures exposed to temperature changes. METRO design and construction standards, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been designed and built, require that expansion joints be spaced no more than 100 feet apart. The 315 ft. by 580 ft. SSTC has none. It’s possible (likely?) that the severe cracking in the SSTC is caused by its total lack of expansion joints. The latex concrete overlay that has been proposed will not fix the underlying problem (lack of expansion joints).
Is all this discussion about torsion just a diversion?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/silver-spring-transit-center-could-open-by-fall/2014/04/01/c7b66fdc-b83d-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html
"a working group of independent engineering and construction experts" is what’s needed. So far, we’ve only heard from those involved in the project and paid for by Montgomery County. A truly independent group should examine the severe cracking in slabs, beams, girders and columns and other defects (slabs less than the 10 inches thick called for, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, under-designed beams, etc.), determine what caused the defects, and then determine solutions that will address underlying causes.
Montgomery County’s report, made public more than a year ago, attributes the SSTC’s serious defects to errors and omissions by the SSTC’s contractor/builder, the engineer/designer and the concrete inspector/tester. The report notes that the SSTC doesn’t have expansion joints. Standard design and construction practice requires expansion joints in outdoor structures exposed to temperature changes. WMATA design and construction standards, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been designed and constructed, call for expansion joints to be located no more than 100 feet apart; the 315 ft. by 580 ft. SSTC has none. Could it be that the extensive cracking in the SSTC is caused by its total lack of expansion joints? If so, then the two inch latex concrete overlay planned for the SSTC will not fix the underlying problem (lack of expansion joints).
Since the Silver Spring Transit Center is an integral part of WMATA's regional system, serving DC, VA & MD, I would have preferred to see structural engineering and construction experts from DC (e.g., Howard University's College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences) and VA on Montgomery County's "working group of independent engineering and construction experts". Nonetheless, I look forward to the independent engineering and construction experts’ report. Hopefully, Montgomery County will hold public meetings so that we can finally learn what the County is doing in the way of repairs, and why, and we can ask our questions and provide our comments on the public record.
