Other serious design and construction flaws are identified in the report, including deck slabs more than an inch thinner than what they're supposed to be, exposed reinforcement, missing reinforcement, the SSTC's total lack of expansion/contraction joints, etc. Montgomery County's report blames the SSTC's serious design and construction flaws on "errors and omissions" by the SSTC's builder/contractor, design engineer and concrete inspector/tester and special quality inspector.
Much of the media's (print, TV, radio, internet) coverage of this story has revolved around politics--Republicans blame Democrats, etc. However, the SSTC isn't a story about politics.
- The SSTC is a story about serious failures in design and construction of a public work.
- The SSTC is a story about how government has wasted taxpayer money. (53% of the funding for the SSTC are federal funds, meaning ALL taxpayers, from coast to coast, are paying for this seriously flawed lemon. 11% are MD funds and the remaining 36% are Montgomery County funds.)
- The SSTC is a story about public safety for those who will use it--if it ever opens.
- The SSTC is a story about government accountability in protecting the public's investment and their safety.
- The SSTC is a story about how government deviated from the tried and true, competitive methods for selecting a contractor (bids) and for selecting a design engineer and a concrete inspector and tester (multiple firms competing for the project).
The REAL story of the SSTC has yet to be told in the hundreds of media reports over the past year and a half. The real story of how and why Montgomery County selected the SSTC's contractor/builder, the design engineer and the concrete inspector/tester and special quality inspector has not been made pubic.
Another BIG public works project is proceeding on the heels of the SSTC--METRO's Purple Line. Like the SSTC, the Purple Line is proceeding as a public-private partnership, where builder, engineer and inspectors will be selected by politicians and bureaucrats, rather than competing for the project.
Will more taxpayer money be wasted on the Purple Line with its public-private partnership?
Time will tell.
Ray Koenig Jr. was born Dec. 30, 1946 in Washington DC. He is the oldest son of Ray Koenig Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Kammerer Koenig, who raised their six children (4 girls and 2 boys) in Arlington VA. Ray Koenig Sr. had a land surveying business in Bethesda Md.
Mary Elizabeth Kammerer was born and raised in Washington DC, as were her parents. In his later years Adolph Kammerer, Mary Elizabeth’s father, lived with her sisters, Emma and Mildred, at the corner of Spring Street and Fairview Rd. in Silver Spring MD. After Adolph died Emma and Mildred moved to nearby Ballard St.
Ray Koenig Jr. graduated from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington in 1964. He graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1968. In 1973 he was first licensed as a professional engineer (PE) in Washington DC. He was subsequently licensed to practice engineering in eight other states (VA, MD, SC, PA, DE, WV, NC, GA). In 1974 he was first licensed as a professional land surveyor (PLS) in Virginia, and in 1975 he was licensed to practice land surveying in Maryland. During most of his 40+ yr. career Ray Koenig Jr. worked for consulting engineering firms in metropolitan Washington DC. From 1973 to 1976 Ray Koenig Sr. and Ray Koenig Jr. worked together at A. Raymond Koenig and Sons in Bethesda MD.
Ray Koenig Jr. married Jenny Marie Johnston of Arlington VA in 1966. They raised their four children (Michelle, Ken, Karen, and Cheryl) in northern VA. Ray and Jenny are now retired and live in northern Virginia near their three daughters. They have two grandsons, Kyle (19) and Jeremy (2).
Ray Koenig Jr. has several blogs in which he uses his pseudonym, PEretired.
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| Kyle T. Evans and grandfather Ray Koenig Jr. at Nats Park |
Greetings, my name is James Hall and I was wondering wether you would be interested in being interviewer for a school project. The subject of the film is the Silver Spring transit center. The interview could be in whichever format is most convenient for you, over Skype, over the phone, or in person.
ReplyDeleteThank you
Hi James. I prefer to answer your questions on this blog so that all can see your questions and my answers. My reason: the SSTC debacle is about how government (county, state and federal) has failed the public. Since 53% of the funding for the SSTC is federal funding, that means virtually all of us are paying for this failure. We deserve to know the facts.
DeleteAt some point we may decide that a phone call or meeting face-to-face is appropriate. (I don't have Skype.) We'll have to figure out how we can do that and not compromise our privacy too much. Thanks for your request.
James' video: http://youtu.be/6TZrmEj-Xtk
DeleteJames,
A+. GREAT job! Your film is outstanding.
You picked the right interviewees. Founder and president of the Silver Spring Historical Society and Silver Spring resident. His credibility is unquestioned. You and he make a great point: that the SSTC is a collosal "bungling" and waste of public money (federal, state & local). I found his remarks about "public outrage" to be particularly insightful. His closing remarks are also VERY insightful. The SSTC is a "glorified" parking garage, not particularly difficult to design or build. The failures were failures in managing the SSTC's design, construction and concrete inspection and testing during construction.
I take exception with Tina Slater's comment that KCE's report blames "all parties". The KCE structural report, as complete, thorough and factual as it is, fails to blame Montgomery County for the debacle SSTC. But then, Montgomery County paid KCE ($1.7 million?) for its investigation and report. "Biting the hand that feeds you" is not a good practice for private consultants to take with their clients. However, Montgomery County is most surely partly to blame for the debacle SSTC. Ms. Slater blames Montgomery County in her remarks to you; but, she's incorrect when she says that KCE's report blames "all parties".
Montgomery County has the responsibility to review and approve all construction within its boundaries. Further, as the SSTC's owner of record and construction manager, they have a further responsibility to manage the design and construction. Further still, as Montgomery County's Inspector General pointed out in his presentation, a Montgomery County building inspector discovered problems with the SSTC's design before construction began, and the County failed to follow up on their own inspector's findings. Certainly some, if not most, of the tens of millions of public dollars that have been wasted on the SSTC could have been avoided had Montgomery County had its act together.
Governor elect Hogan did not support the Purple Line in his campaign. MD needs to take a hard look at the waste that in public funds that resulted from the Silver Spring Transit Center public-private partnership, where Montgomery County noncompetitively selected Parsons Brinkerhoff to provide the engineering design for the SSTC, Foulger Pratt to build it and Balter Co. to inspect and test concrete during construction. The complete waste of public $ that resulted from the SSTC, because of crony capitalism, should not be allowed to happen with the Purple Line, which is currently proceeding as/towards a public-private partnership.
Great job! Congratulations!