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
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