Silver Spring Transit Center: clueless

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/repairs-on-trouble-plagued-silver-spring-transit-center-scheduled-to-resume-next-week/2014/05/29/9e29771e-e76c-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html

Beware of public statements from those who have ties to the SSTC and to Montgomery County—the County Executive, the County Council, Mr. Dise, Mr. Duncan, political candidates, paid contractors and consultants, pro bono advisors, WMATA, news media, etc. Only an independent investigation by those who don’t have any political, financial or other interests in Montgomery County or the SSTC, or to other parties involved with the project (e.g. Federal Transit Administration and Maryland Transit Administration) can be expected to uncover why the SSTC has so many serious defects. 

The investigation needs to start with why the SSTC wasn’t bid for construction (the norm for public works projects) and why and how the contractor, engineer and concrete inspector/tester were selected without the competition that is typical for large public works projects. 

The public, both inside and outside Montgomery County, that paid and are paying for the SSTC (53% federal, 11% state, 36% county), want to know why their public taxes and user fees were wasted on the lemon SSTC.

And, the public, except for clueless political partisans who can't think for themselves, wants the $120+ million that's been wasted on the seriously flawed, lemon SSTC reimbursed to the public coffers from which it came.

Is the Silver Spring Transit Center the fruit of crony capitalism?

For decades government has relied on competition to award government contracts. Until relatively recently, large public works projects were always bid for construction. Until recently, professional services contracts for large public works projects (e.g. engineering design, materials testing and analyses, etc.) were awarded to the firm deemed most qualified among many professional service firms seeking the government contract. Competition for the award of large public works contracts has been the norm for decades--until recently.

Now public-private partnerships allow sole-source, noncompetitive government contracts. Government agencies can select a contractor to build a pulic works project rather than bid it for construction. Government agencies can award professional services contracts without competition from other professional services firms. 

The Silver Spring Transit Center is a public-private partnership. Why did Montgomery County select Foulger Pratt to build the SSTC? Why did they select Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it? Why did they select Balter Co. to inspect and test concrete and to serve as SSTC’s special quality inspector? Were political “contributions” part of the selection process?

It would be helpful to know the answers to these questions before another public-private partnership for a large public works project, the Purple Line, breaks ground. Unfortunately, we won’t know the answers to these questions without an independent investigation free from governmental, political, regional, and other infuences and/or biases. Nor will we get answers from news media that fail to do “in-depth reporting” and fail to ask “probing questions”.

Is the lemon Silver Spring Transit Center debacle the fruit of crony capitalism?

We may never know.

Silver Spring Transit Center: some lemons can't be fixed

http://marylandreporter.com/2014/05/27/silver-spring-transit-center-study-finds-many-to-blame-for-stalled-costly-project/

Good report. However, it assumes that the “concrete remediation work ongoing at the Silver Spring Transit Center” (pictured in the photo) will "fix" the SSTC’s “significant problems and latent defects”. The photo shows a 2-inch thick concrete overlay being applied to the deck. How will this "fix" a 315 ft. by 580 ft. concrete building that doesn’t have any expansion joints? 

The external steel braces that Montgomery County plans on installing on under-designed beams, because 3-inch thick pieces of concrete have fallen from them (according to reports in Engineering News Record), won't fix the extensive concrete cracking either.

The SSTC’s complete lack of expansion joints is a major defect identified in KCE’s March 15, 2013 report and is the likely cause of the SSTC’s extensive cracking. WMATA’s design and construction criteria, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been design and constructed, require expansion joints be spaced no farther than 100 ft. apart. 

How does one "fix" an existing 315 ft. by 580 ft. concrete building that wasn’t designed or built with expansion joints spaced every 100 ft. or less? Is it even possible to do so? 

The SSTC with its “significant problems and latent defects” is a lemon. The public should demand their money back.

Silver Spring Transit Center: a personal note

When I first read the report, “Structural Evaluation of Superstructure, Silver Spring Transit Center, March 15, 2013” prepared by KCE Structural Engineers, I was shocked and saddened. How could a public works project go so wrong? What does this say about integrity in government and in the engineering profession which I chose more than 50 years ago? 

The SSTC’s design and construction flaws are serious. The fact that KCE’s report blames the SSTC’s serious flaws on the builder’s, the engineer’s and the concrete inspector/tester’s “errors and omissions” is troubling. Equally troubling for me is the fact that the SSTC was almost complete when the SSTC’s serious flaws came to the public’s attention. Who was “minding the store”? Anyone who is involved in construction, particularly those who have been involved in construction for more than 50 years, knows the importance of “minding the store”.

As disturbing as KCE’s report was to me, the events of the past 15 months since the KCE report became public have been equally disturbing. Public statements by public officials and others involved in the aftermath of KCE’s March 15, 2013 report have been less than forthright at best and downright deceitful at worst. 

I find the often repeated public statements of David Dise (director of the Montgomery County Department of General Services) and others who have made public statements about the SSTC’s safety particularly disturbing. Mr. Dise has been quoted repeatedly in the news media as saying “The SSTC will absolutely be safe". The fact is that neither Mr. Dise, nor anyone else, knows that the SSTC will be safe. His statement, along with those of others regarding the SSTC’s safety, is his opinion. It cannot be proven that the SSTC will be safe; and, IMHO, for public officials and others to make such public statements is irresponsible at best and outright deceitful at worst.

Equally disturbing for me to the public statements of those involved in the design and construction of the SSTC and its aftermath has been the lack of response by the Federal Transit Administration, the Maryland Transit Administration, and others whose responsibilities include protecting the public’s interests. The news media itself (print, TV, radio, internet) have done a particularly poor job in covering this story. The news media prides itself in its supposed “in-depth reporting” and “probing questions”. For the most part, I’ve seen none of that here; the news media have mostly published the public statements of those involved in the SSTC aftermath without “in-depth reporting” and without asking “probing questions”. 

I’ve found that unless you’re a public official or a member of the news media that it’s next-to-impossible to be heard on important issues such as serious flaws with the Silver Spring Transit Center. Search “Silver Spring Transit Center” on the internet and most of what you’ll find are news media reports and press releases and public statements from government officials on their websites. What’s largely missing is the other side of the story.

I don’t know how all of this will turn out. Will Montgomery County press ahead with its “repairs” to the SSTC without input from the public? It appears that way. Montgomery County hasn’t held public meetings to answer the public’s questions or obtain their comments on the public record. Will WMATA accept the seriously flawed SSTC? Will there be an independent investigation into why and how this happened? Is the fact that design and construction of the SSTC is a public-private partnership partly to blame? Will the public ever know the “other” side of the story? It appears to me that they will not; and, that shocks and saddens me.

Is it possible to fix a lemon without expansion joints?

More than a year ago KCE and WMATA’s engineers reported that the Silver Spring Transit Center doesn’t have expansion/contraction joints. WMATA’s design and construction standards, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been designed and built, require expansion/contraction joints be spaced no more than 100 feet apart. The 315 ft. by 580 ft. SSTC has none.

WMATA’s engineers warn that the SSTC’s complete lack of expansion/contraction joints, along with other serious flaws, will make the SSTC expensive to operate and maintain. They further warn that the requirement for the SSTC to have a 50 yr. service life is in jeopardy because of the SSTC’s complete lack of expansion/contraction joints and other serious design and construction flaws.

While Montgomery County’s engineers attribute the SSTC’s severe cracking to a variety of causes (shear, torsion, voids, etc.), I believe that the SSTC’s complete lack of expansion/contraction joints is a more likely explanation. Huge stresses can result from temperature changes. Large water lines break in freezing weather; concrete roads without properly functioning expansion joints buckle when it gets hot.

Is it possible to retrofit expansion/contraction joints spaced no more than 100 feet apart into an existing 315 ft. by 580 ft. concrete building that has none? If there is, then Montgomery County should tell us, the public, who paid and are paying for the SSTC and its “repairs”, exactly how they intend to retrofit expansion/contraction joints spaced every 100 feet or less into the joint-less SSTC. If Montgomery County is unable to explain how it intends to “fix” the SSTC’s complete lack of expansion/contraction joints, then the answer is clear: the SSTC is, and always will be, a lemon that will be expensive to operate and maintain--and, a possible threat to public safety.  

We, the public, deserve better. We don't deserve the existing lemon SSTC that we paid and are paying more than retail for. We deserve a refund..

Silver Spring Transit Center: now what?

Let’s review the facts. 

The Silver Spring Transit Center is a lemon.

• We know from Montgomery County’s April 15, 2014 IG report that, as early as 2010, serious design and construction flaws were systematically ignored (e.g. cracks in newly poured slabs in Oct. 2010 and curing concrete exposed to freezing temperatures in Dec. 2010)
• We know from KCE’s March 15, 2013 report that there are other serious flaws—complete lack of expansion joints, slabs thinner than they’re supposed to be, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, understrength and overstressed concrete, suspect concrete test reports, under-designed beams, etc.
• We know that the KCE report attributes the SSTC’s serious design, construction and inspection and testing flaws to errors and omissions by the SSTC’s builder (Foulger Pratt), engineer (Parsons Brinkerhoff) and concrete inspector/tester and special quality inspector (Balter Co.)
• We know from the April 21, 2014 Augustine report that 3-inch thick pieces of concrete have fallen from the SSTC
• We know from WMATA that because of its serious flaws that the SSTC will be expensive to operate and maintain
• We know that funding for the SSTC is 53% federal funds, 11% Maryland state funds and 36% Montgomery County funds
• We know that the SSTC’s cost has ballooned to $120+ million, and that doesn’t include millions in current “repairs”, or future operations, maintenance and repair costs, or future admisistrative and lawsuits' costs
• We know that Montgomery County, without holding public meetings to give the public the opportunity to ask their questions and to make their comments on the public record, is proceeding with “repairs” to the seriously flawed SSTC

We, the public, paid more than retail for a brand new transit center and we got a seriously flawed lemon instead. We deserve better.

Now what? 

We should do what we do with any other lemon where we paid for new and got seriously flawed instead. We should demand that our money be refunded.

Silver Spring Transit Center: IG report photos from 2010

Here are a few photos from the Montgomery County IG report for the Silver Spring Transit Center:

The Montgomery County IG report says:

"The significant structural strength and structural durability concerns ... resulted from deficiencies in construction, design issues ... , and failure to effectively address these issues when they were first identified. Each of these issues contributed to widespread cracking in the slabs, beams, and girders that is now evident in the Silver Spring Transit Center."

• 2010
• cracking in newly poured slabs
• curing concrete exposed to freezing temperatures

incredible government disfunction

SSTC: excerpts from the IG report

Excerpts from the summary (“Report In Brief”) of the report of the Montgomery County Inspector General titled “Project Management Deficiencies in Constructing the Paul S. Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Center”, dated April 15, 2014:

“Although inspectors asserted that no undocumented water was added to the concrete, forensic testing in the SSTC suggests a presence of 36% more water than was documented by the concrete provider and the inspector.” 

Ladies, if you have a recipe that has 3 or 4 ingredients, and you add 36% more of one ingredient than the recipe calls for (and add the other ingredients in exactly the same amounts that the recipe calls for), then what will be the result? … The same applies for concrete.

Inspectors, take it from George Washington: "It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one."

“The effects of extra water and improper curing should have been detected during testing, but concrete specimen samples upon which test results relied were not representative of the in-situ concrete. … However, records do not indicate that the test results from cylinders collected at the two locations were ever compared by the contractors. As a result, the differences were not identified or investigated, and the same batch performance differences relative to specifications were not detected.”

Translated: Concrete in test cylinders cured in a protected environment (e.g., lab) is not the same as concrete exposed to freezing temperatures during curing. DUH!

“By late 2010, design, construction, and inspection personnel were aware that proper concrete thickness was not always being achieved, yet effective corrective measures were not taken, and the problem persisted throughout the period of the major construction project activities.”

Analogy: The store’s employees are aware of problems; but, the store’s owners are ignoring them. DUH!

“The three pour strips on the 330 and 350 levels were each constructed in a different manner and neither of the pour strips on the 330 level was constructed in a manner that conformed to the design requirements identified in the structural drawings. … The east pour strip on the 330 level was poured without post-tensioning tendons but with mild steel reinforcement, while the west pour strip on the 330 level was poured without posttensioning tendons and without sufficient steel reinforcement in one direction.”

“Problems with structural design and construction were identified by late 2010, and repeatedly discussed in subsequent Project Management Team meetings, but were not effectively addressed.”

“Recommendation 6: Those professionals whose lack of diligence resulted in the pour strip construction deficiencies should be held accountable.”


How the public recovers $120+ million that has been wasted on this lemon was not addressed in the IG's report. In fact, the 165-page .pdf document doesn't address why and how more than $120 million has been wasted on the SSTC. It mostly talks about what whould be done on future projects. 

YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT, Montgomery County IG Edward Blansitt and Montgomery County Chief Administrative Officer Timothy L. Firestine. The public wants to know HOW and WHY $120+ million of the public's money was wasted on THIS project. Was it because of crony capitalism, a.k.a. public-private partnerships, where public contracts are awarded sole source, without competition to friends of politicians? 

The SSTC is a lemon. We, the public, want our money back, regardless of how and why the SSTC became a lemon.

Silver Spring Transit Center: unasked questions

Why is Montgomery County making repairs, costing millions, to the brand new, yet-to-be-opened, severely flawed, lemon, Silver Spring Transit Center? 

The SSTC is clearly a lemon (severely cracked, no expansion joints, slabs thinner than they’re supposed to be, understrength and overstressed concrete, suspect concrete tests reports, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, under-designed beams, 3-inch thick pieces of concrete that have fallen off, etc.). The public shouldn’t have to accept a clearly flawed lemon when they’re paying more-than-retail for a brand new, unflawed transit center. At the least the SSTC will be expensive to operate and maintain, and at worst it is a threat to public safety.

Why hasn’t Montgomery County held public meetings to explain to the public what they’re doing and why? Why haven’t they provided the opportunity for citizens to ask their questions and to make their comments on the public record?

Why haven’t the Federal Transit Administration and the Maryland Transit Administration insisted on public meetings where citizens can ask their questions and make their comments on the public record?

53% of the funding for the SSTC are federal funds, 11% are state and 36% are county.

Why did Montgomery County select Foulger Pratt to build the SSTC instead of bidding it for construction (standard practice for public works projects)?

Why did Montgomery County select Parsons Brinkerhoff to provide engineering design for the SSTC and Balter Co. to inspect and test concrete and to serve as special quality inspector instead of selecting an engineer and a concrete inspection/testing firm using the traditional competitive process for selecting professional service firms for public works projects?

Were political contributions involved in these selections?

Explain how the SSTC’s public-private partnership benefits the public over standard competitive practices for construction (bids) and for selecting professional service firms for public works projects.


Too bad that these guys aren’t around:

They'd get answers to our questions.


***UPDATE***    ***May 21, 2014***

http://www.gazette.net/article/20140520/NEWS/140529876/1033/report-finds-faults-with-management-of-transit-center-construction&template=gazette 

Why did the Montgomery County Department of General Services ignore serious problems that were discovered in 2010? Why didn't DGS deal with them then? Is it because of "crony capitalism"? Will history repeat itself with the Purple Line (public-private partnership)? Will even more federal, state and county funds be wasted with crony capitalism on an even bigger public works project? 

How can Montgomery County, the Maryland Transit Administration and the Federal Transit Administration expect the public to accept this lemon, especially now that it's confirmed that serious defects were systemically ignored since 2010? How many more serious defects, that DGS didn't deal with at the time, are buried, hidden inside the SSTC's seriously flawed concrete frame?

... more "probing questions" for the news media not to ask ...

"Unimaginable" building collapse in North Korea

http://www.smh.com.au/world/serious-north-korea-building-collapse-20140518-zrgfr.html

KCNA said the accident had occurred last Tuesday and was the result of "irresponsible" supervision by officials in charge of the construction.

An "intensive" emergency rescue effort had been carried out to rescue survivors and treat the wounded, it said.

The KCNA did not provide a death toll or elaborate on the cause of the collapse, but said it had left Pyongyang citizens "greatly shocked".

The agency carried lengthy public apologies by senior officials including the Minister of People's Security, Choe Pu-Il.

(Choe) repented of himself, saying that he failed to find out factors that can put at risk the lives and properties of the people and to take thorough-going measures, thereby causing an unimaginable accident," it said.


"Unimaginable"?    Hardly.   It's simply the laws of physics at work.

What's "unimaginable" are the lame excuses that public officials come up with when "'irresponsible' supervision by officials in charge of the construction" result in such disasters, and the naivete of the news media (print, TV, radio, internet) and the general public.

Silver Spring Transit Center: opinions are not facts

Perhaps the most important fact that has been lost in the monumental Silver Spring Transit Center debacle is that opinions are not facts.

David Dise, Director of Montgomery County’s Department of General Services, has been quoted repeatedly in news reports as saying “The Silver Spring Transit Center will absolutely be safe.” Others (Montgomery County’s executive and council members, WMATA officials, Montgomery County’s paid consultants, WMATA’s paid consultant, the Augustine panel, etc.) have said the same, albeit without Dise’s emphasis (“…absolutely safe...”).

The fact is that the statement “the SSTC is (or will be) safe” is an opinion, NOT a fact. No one, not even engineering experts, can prove that the SSTC is, or will be, safe. The simple facts are that no one can predict the future and no one can conclusively say that there aren’t more defects hidden inside the SSTC’s defective concrete frame. 

Given the number of defects that have been identified, and the fact that we can’t see inside hardened concrete, it is likely that there are even more defects lurking inside the SSTC's cracked and thinner-than-they're-supposed-to-be slabs and cracked and reinforcement-defieient beams, girders and columns. The fact that some defects (“…3-in.-thick concrete pieces have fallen from the structure” *) were discovered after KCE’s extensive investigation and report adds credence to the belief that it is likely that not all of the SSTC’s defects have been found.

* http://enr.construction.com/business_management/project_delivery/2014/0512-more-delays-for-md-transit-center.asp

So, the next time that the news media (print, TV, radio, internet) report that Montgomery County, WMATA, their paid consultants, the Augustine panel or anyone else says that "the SSTC is (or will be) safe", take it with a grain of salt, because opinions are NOT facts.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts."   
Daniel Patrick Moynihan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyyVJQmMewo

Silver Spring Transit Center "Day of Reckoning"

http://www.mymcmedia.org/valerie-ervin-on-silver-spring-transit-center-video/

"Is it safe? How much will it cost? Who's to blame?"

I hope that you're right, Ms. Ervin. There needs to be "a day of reckoning"--the sooner, the better. However, I'm skeptical that it's going to happen soon for a number of reasons. There are too many folks who don't want "a day of reckoning".

Clearly the builder, engineer and concrete tester don't want "a day of reckoning", for obvious reasons. 

Montgomery County has excluded the public during the repair phase. Montgomery County hasn't held public meetings to explain to the public what they are doing. Why are they repairing a flawed, brand new building that the public is paying more-than-retail for? Montgomery County hasn't provided an opportunity for the paying public to ask their questions and to make their comments on the public record. Why? Could it be that Montgomery County has something(s) to hide? Could it be that Montgomery County doesn't want to have to explain to the public why they selected the builder, engineer and concrete tester noncompetitively, instead of bidding the SSTC for construction and selecting the engineer and concrete tester competitively? Could political "contributions" have been involved? Does Montgomery County want to avoid "a day of reckoning"? It appears that they do.

The same can be said for the Federal Transit Administration and the Maryland Transit Administration. Why haven't they protected the interests of the paying public by insisting that the public be provided the opportunity to speak on the public record? After all, 53% of the funding for the SSTC are federal funds and 11% are Maryland state funds. Could it be that FTA and MTA have something(s) to hide and don't want "a day of reckoning" either? Perhaps the FTA & MTA don't want to answer why the SSTC wasn't bid for construction (standard practice for public works projects), and why the engineering and concrete testing firms were selected noncompetitively also, as part of a public-private partnership. Perhaps they don't want to have to explain to the paying public how the SSTC public-private partnership has benefitted them.

It also appears to me that, for whatever reason(s), the news media doesn't want "a day of reckoning" either. Instead of covering this story like Watergate, asking "probing questions" and reporting "in-depth", the news media (print, TV, radio, internet) generally publishes Montgomery County press releases and public statements without reporting "in-depth" or asking "probing questions". Whatever their reasons, the news media haven't helped to expedite "a day of reckoning" for the SSTC, like they did with Watergate.

Finally, I don't share your optimism, Ms. Ervin, about voters. I don't see people "up in arms" the way that you describe. When you search "Silver Spring Transit Center" on the internet, most all of what you see are news media reports that parrot Montgomery County's press releases and public statements. VERY few others appear to be challenging Montgomery County. They should be; but, it doesn't appear to me that they are.

Regardless, I agree with you, Ms. Ervin. There needs to be "a day of reckoning"; and, the sooner, the better; because there are things about the Silver Spring Transit Center that "don't pass the smell test".

Silver Spring Transit Center: keeping it simple

OK; let’s keep it simple: 

Wiktionary says that “an accident waiting to happen is a thing or situation which is almost certain to eventually lead to an accident. Example: Someone needs to repair that worn-out old bridge. It's an accident waiting to happen!”
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/accident_waiting_to_happen

All the signs are there:

• Extensive concrete cracking in a new building
• A detailed engineering report (KCE) that identifies other design, construction and testing flaws

                - Slabs more than an inch thinner than they’re supposed to be
                - Complete lack of expansion joints
                - Exposed reinforcement
                - Missing reinforcement
                - Overstressed and understrength concrete
                - Under-designed beams
                - Suspect concrete test reports
                - etc.

• 3-inch thick pieces of concrete falling from the building
• Warnings from WMATA’s engineers
• Warnings from the Augustine panel

Focusing on the first bullet alone, the laws of physics are unyielding. When a brand new concrete building cracks extensively, before it’s subjected to the loads for which it is intended (cars and fully loaded buses), something(s) is terribly wrong. 

The laws of physics are unyielding regardless of intent. They don’t take into account that we meant well. Likewise, consequences for violating the laws of physics don’t take into account politics, or money, or people’s feelings, or their opinions. The laws of physics aren't opinions; they're natural laws. 

Breaking the laws of physics leads to certain and unyielding results. People in North Korea know this all too well: http://www.smh.com.au/world/serious-north-korea-building-collapse-20140518-zrgfr.html . "KCNA said the accident had occurred last Tuesday and was the result of "irresponsible" supervision by officials in charge of the construction. ... The KCNA did not provide a death toll or elaborate on the cause of the collapse, but said it had left Pyongyang citizens "greatly shocked". The agency carried lengthy public apologies by senior officials including the Minister of People's Security, Choe Pu-Il. (Choe) repented of himself, saying that he failed to find out factors that can put at risk the lives and properties of the people and to take thorough-going measures, thereby causing an unimaginable accident," it said.

Two questions:

1. Why would anyone doubt that the brand new, yet-to-be-opened Silver Spring Transit Center is a lemon?
2. Why would anyone accept a flawed lemon for a transit center when they paid more than retail for a brand new one?

Silver Spring Transit Center: truth, lies and the news media

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=46&sid=3618969

"David Dise ... was pressed ... but when asked directly" 

There needs to be more of this. In general the news media (print, TV, radio, internet) have done a poor job covering this story. In many cases they have taken the County's press releases or public statements and simply published them without "in-depth reporting" or "probing questions" that the news media claim.

In a recent interview former Montgomery County councilwoman Valerie Ervin said "... there's a lot of the story still underneath the surface (translation: we haven't been told the whole truth) ... it's going to cost taxpayers a lot of money until it's resolved (contrary to what we've been told) ... people have many reasons not to believe what they've been told (translation: we've been lied to)".  http://www.mymcmedia.org/valerie-ervin-on-silver-spring-transit-center-video/

In failing to "press" Montgomery County officials directly, to report "in-depth" and to ask "probing questions", the news media have failed the public when it comes to the important public safety, cost and government veracity issues with the Silver Spring Transit Center.

Silver Spring Transit Center predictions

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/metro-transit-center-beams-and-girders-should-be-strengthened-prior-to-opening/2014/05/08/d0621978-d6bb-11e3-aae8-c2d44bd79778_story.html

Today we learned that WMATA won't accept the Silver Spring Transit Center until repairs recommended by KCE Structural Engineers and the Augustine panel are made. According to reports, $11 million in repairs are needed to strengthen beams and to cover surface cracks in deck slabs. The SSTC won't open until 2015.

Here are my predictions:

Prediction #1: The repairs will not fix the problem.
If 3-inch thick pieces of concrete has fallen off the SSTC, as has been reported, then I don't believe that it happened because beams aren't properly reinforced for shear and torsion. After all, the SSTC hasn't seen its first car, much less its first fully loaded bus. I believe that temperature changes together with the SSTC's complete lack of expansion joints are causing the SSTC to rip itself apart. If so, external beam reinforcement and a latex concrete overlay won't fix the problem. Time will tell. If the cracking continues after the repairs are made, and/or pieces of concrete continue to fall from the SSTC, then it'll be apparent that shear and torsion aren't the source of the cracks and falling concrete.

Prediction #2: The "monumental debacle" (as Councilman Phil Andrews puts it) is far from over. 
#2A: The litigation phase will make the design, construction and repair phases look like speed dating. 
#2B  In the end total costs for the SSTC's design, construction, repairs, litigation, additional operation and maintenance costs, etc. will exceed $200 million, $50+ million of which will be Montgomery County's "hidden" costs that will never be accounted for (e.g. Montgomery County employee salary costs in dealing with repairs, litigation and specific operation and maintenance issues that result from the SSTC's design and construction flaws, repairs made by County employees, increased SSTC operation and maintenance costs that aren't "charged" to the SSTC, etc.).
#2C: When all is said and done, the taxpaying public will end up eating far more of the overruns than County officials are now willing to admit.

Prediction #3: The public will have the last word. 
Montgomery County excluded the public during the repair phase. The County didn't hold public meetings to explain to those who are paying for the SSTC what the County is doing and why. The paying public wasn't given the opportunity to ask their questions and to make their comments on the public record. However, those who are paying for the SSTC will have the last word; they will exclude in the voting booth those who excluded them during the repair phase.  (similar to the "day of reckoning" of which former Montgomery County councilwoman spoke in her recent interview: http://www.mymcmedia.org/valerie-ervin-on-silver-spring-transit-center-video/ )

I hope to be around long enough to see if my predictions come true; however, I'm afraid that I won't live long enough to see the final results. ... Maybe my grandchildren will.

an open letter to Montgomery County re: Silver Spring Transit Center

May 8, 2014

Mr. Isaiah Leggett, County Executive
Montgomery County Council

Re: Silver Spring Transit Center

Dear Mr. Leggett and members of the Montgomery County Council,

The public doesn’t want your apology for the severely flawed Silver Spring Transit Center; the public simply doesn’t want the severely flawed, lemon, SSTC.

To your credit Montgomery County commissioned KCE Structural Engineers to investigate the SSTC’s severe cracking. To your further credit Montgomery County posted KCE’s report on your website more than a year ago. 

As you know, KCE attributes the SSTC’s extensive cracking, and other serious design and construction flaws, to errors and omissions by the SSTC’s builder/contractor Foulger-Pratt, its engineer/designer Parsons Brinkerhoff and its concrete tester/inspector and special quality inspector Balter Co. Some of the other serious flaws that are identified in the KCE report include no expansion joints, slabs that are more than an inch thinner than called for, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, understrength and overstressed concrete, suspect concrete test reports, under-designed beams, etc. Since KCE’s report was made public in March 2013, other flaws have been discovered, including, most recently, a 3-inch thick piece of concrete that fell from the SSTC that is attributed to voids in the concrete.

As is apparent from your own and WMATA’s reports, at the very least, the SSTC is a lemon that will be expensive to operate and maintain because of its numerous design and construction flaws. At worst the SSTC is a public safety hazard. Neither scenario is acceptable for a project that is funded by federal (53%), state (11%) and county (36%) public funds.

While your actions in commissioning the KCE report and making it public are to be applauded, your public statements regarding the SSTC and your failure to obtain public input, where citizens can ask their questions and make their comments on the public record, before Montgomery County proceeded with expensive repairs, are troubling. We strongly urge you to reconsider further repairs to the lemon SSTC, which will not negate the SSTC’s serious design and construction flaws, high operation and maintenance costs or public safety concerns.

Respectfully,
Ray Koenig
Citizen

Engineering News Record report: Silver Spring Transit Center

http://enr.construction.com/business_management/project_delivery/2014/0512-more-delays-for-md-transit-center.asp

"...the Augustine panel believes there could be safety issues, too, and notes 3-in.-thick concrete pieces have fallen from the structure."

Who doesn't agree with the Augustine panel that "3-in.-thick concrete pieces falling from the structure" are safety issues? 

This raises other questions:

• Why are 3-inch-thick concrete pieces falling from the brand new, yet-to-be-opened, $120+ million Silver Spring Transit Center? 
• Do 3-inch-thick concrete pieces falling from the brand new, yet-to-be-opened, SSTC suggest that there are other, perhaps even greater, problems with the SSTC?
• How can the brand new, yet-to-be-opened, $120+ million SSTC have 3-inch-thick concrete pieces falling from the structure before it opens? (The SSTC hasn't seen its first car, much less fully-loaded bus!) 
• Who was looking out for the public's interests (53% federal funding, 11% state, 36% county) during design and construction?
• What does the SSTC experiece say about the practice of using public-private partnerships to design and build public works projects?

more inspections, more repairs for the Silver Spring Transit Center

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/key-players-hold-conflictiong-positions-on-transit-center/2014/05/05/f8b31d1c-d226-11e3-9e25-188ebe1fa93b_story.html

“It’s puzzling how two firms can be so different in their conclusions,” said Tim Firestine, the county’s chief administrative officer. 

It’s not puzzling at all. Every time that another rock is turned over at the SSTC, there’s another snake. Who knew about “soffit spalling” (“…attributable to voids in the concrete …”) until it appeared in Augustine’s report? “This could pose a local safety hazard and will require inspection of all vulnerable soffit areas, and repairs as appropriate, prior to opening the facility for public use.” 

More inspections. More repairs. Not surprising or puzzling at all considering the fact that in addition to the cracks, thin slabs, total lack of expansion joints, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, understrength concrete, design errors, voids in the concrete, etc., there may be, and probably are, even more unknown defects lurking inside the SSTC’s flawed concrete skeleton.

Ask the engineers to certify for the public that the SSTC is safe... and then, read the fine print. 

Who in their right mind would put their engineering license on the line by certifying that a genuine lemon is safe?

dancing around the issue

More than a year ago it was reported that the Silver Spring Transit Center was built without any expansion joints. Standard construction practice requires expansion joints for structures exposed to temperature changes. Metro (WMATA) design and construction standards, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been designed and built, require expansion joints to be spaced no farther than 100 feet apart. The 315 ft. by 580 ft. SSTC has none.

Recently the report of an independent advisory committee to Montgomery County Executive Isaiah Leggett was released. This report fails to address the SSTC's lack of expansion joints as the probable source of its extensive cracking. It also fails to address remedies for the SSTC's lack of expansion joints. (Personally, I am unaware of how expansion joints can be retrofit into an existing concrete building.)

HUGE forces result from temperature changes. Large water mains break in freezing weather; roads buckle when it's hot. It's apparent to me that the extensive cracking in the SSTC has occurred because there are no expansion joints to relieve the SSTC of huge stresses caused by temperature changes.

How long will Montgomery County, its paid consultants and its independent advisors continue to dance around this issue?