Thursday, July 17, 2014

the Silver Spring Transit Center and fooling most of the people

Updated
7/18/14

In the shadow of his memorial, the immortal words of our revered 16th president ring true. 

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
No, not those words. These words: 
“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
That’s exactly what’s happened with the Silver Spring Transit Center. Blame it on government "spin", lazy, inept news media, a gullible and/or apathetic public, or all four; most “all of the people” have been fooled into believing Montgomery County’s  unchallenged press releases and public statements concerning the lemon Silver Spring Transit Center.

At the top of the list are the often-repeated statements by Montgomery County officials that "the SSTC will absolutely be safe.”  Since no one can predict the future, this one should be a no-brainer. Yet most ”all of the people" have bought into Montgomery County's nonsensical statement "the SSTC will absolutely be safe" hook, line and sinker.


Also, because of often-repeated and well-publicized statements by Montgomery County officials, most “all of the people" have also been fooled into believing that Montgomery County bears no responsibility for the lemon SSTC. Montgomery County’s executive, council, and staff, their paid consultant, KCE, their pro bono experts, and Montgomery County's IG would have us believe that it’s all the fault of the SSTC’s builder/contractor, Foulger Pratt, engineer/designer, Parsons Brinkerhoff, and concrete inspector/tester and special quality consultant, Balter Company.  Again, a no-brainer. 
Whose project is the lemon SSTC? 
Montgomery County's.
Who has responsibility to inspect and approve all construction in the County?
Montgomery County. 
Who had a full-time construction management team of County employees on site during construction? 
Montgomery County. 
Who had other County employees periodically inspect the work? 
Montgomery County. 
Last, but not least, who selected Foulger Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it, and Balter Company to inspect and test concrete? 
Montgomery County.

And then there are repairs to the brand new, yet-to-be-opened, lemon SSTC. Repairs?!? The people were promised a brand new, unflawed, transit center, not a flawed, repaired one. Another no-brainer. 
And, the repairs that Montgomery County are making (latex concrete overlay and exterior reinforcement for under-designed beams) don't even address the source of the cracking: the 315 ft. x 580 ft. lemon SSTC's complete lack of expansion joints. Standard design and construction practice requires expansion joints for structures exposed to temperature changes. WMATA design and construction standards, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been designed and constructed, require expansion joints to be spaced no farther than 100 ft. apart. The SSTC has none! Small wonder that it's cracked! That it will continue to crack without expansion joints is another no-brainer. 

Holy moly! The $130+ million SSTC is a lemon--pure and simple--a no-brainer!

Yes, President Lincoln, you're correct. 

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

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UPDATE
7/18/14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4hj_tbjITo

Is there a reporter in the house? ANY reporter in the houise who will ask Mr. Leggett:
  • why Montgomery County is making repairs to the yet-to-be-opened, severely flawed SSTC when the public was promised a BRAND NEW, UNFLAWED transit center?
  • why Montgomery County chose Foulger Pratt to build the SSTC (instead of bidding it for construction, like most public works projects)?
  • Why Montgomery County chose Parsons Brinkerhoff to design the SSTC rather than use the normal competitive process for selecting an engineer for a public works project?
  • Why Montgomery County chose Balter Company to inspect and test concrete instead of using the normal competitive process for selecting a concrete testing company for a public works project?
  • Were political "contribution$" part of the selection process?
  • Whatever happened to the promise that you made to get an account set up, funded by the private companies who are responsible for the SSTC's flaws, to pay for repairs to the SSTC?
There are many, MANY, more questions that could be asked where honest answers to them would shed more light on the SSTC debacle; but, there isn't a reporter anywhere in the region who will ask them. 

Where are you, Woodward & Bernstein, when we need you???



What news media haven't reported is the rest of the iceberg.






Monday, July 7, 2014

Silver Spring Transit Center: no news

originally posted 6/28/14
updated 7/4/14

It's been more than a month since there's been any news on the Silver Spring Transit Center. It's been more than a year since KCE's report was released containing numerous, serious design and construction flaws with the yet-to-be-opened, under "repair", $130+ million, lemon SSTC. Yet, there are MANY unanswered questions. For example:
  • Why did Montgomery County select Foulger Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it and Balter Co. to provide concrete inspection and testing? Why didn't Montgomery County use normal competitive processes for selecting a builder (bid), an engineer and a concrete inspector/tester for this public works project? Were "political contribution$" part of Montgomery County's selection process, i.e. crony capitalism?    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crony_capitalism
  • Why is Montgomery County making "repairs" to what's supposed to be a brand new, unflawed transit center? especially since the "repairs" don't address the source of the severe cracking? The 315 ft. by 580 ft. SSTC has NO expansion/contraction joints, despite the fact that standard design and construction practice is to provide expansion/contraction joints for structures exposed to temperature changes, And, WMATA design and construction standards, to which the SSTC was supposed to have been designed and constructed, require expansion/contraction joints to be spaced no more than 100 feet apart.    http://www.structuremag.org/article.aspx?articleID=1145  
  • Why didn't Montgomery County, the Federal Transit Administration (53% federal funding) and the Maryland Transit Administration (11% state funding) hold public meetings to explain to the public why they are making "repairs" to the brand new, overdue, over-budget, seriously flawed, lemon SSTC? Why didn't they provide the opportunity for those who are paying for the SSTC (the public) to ask their questions (e.g., "why are you making "repairs" that don't address the source(s) of the problem(s)?") and to make their comments on the public record?    http://peretiredwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-do-structures-collapse.html 
Yet, in more than a year since the serious flaws with the SSTC became public, and hundreds of news media reports (print, TV, radio, internet) since, NOT ONE has addressed these questions. Contrast this with tropical storm Arthur where news media spent HUNDREDS of hours whipping the public into a veritable frenzy. for what?!? for nothing.

Why? Are news media just lazy? reporting weather multiple times each day in nauseating detail, potholes, "analysis", promoting themselves, etc.; but, they don't report "in-depth" or ask "probing questions" on a major story like the SSTC? even though news media tout that they report "in-depth" and ask "probing questions"? 

Are news media cooperating with government that doesn't want the public to know the answers to our questions? 
No news is bad news.