"... trial to begin in early 2017..."?

"The county doesn’t expect a trial to begin until early 2017, and estimates it could last a year to 18 months. Appeals could take two years.

Montgomery requires parties in the suit to enter “alternative dispute resolution,” or mediation, a process that could lead to an out-of-court settlement. But such a settlement makes it likely that Montgomery County would fall short of the 2013 reelection campaign promise by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D): that every taxpayer dollar spent fixing the transit center’s defects would be recovered.

“It’ll be a challenge,” said Matthew J. Pavlides, an attorney for the firm Miles and Stockbridge who specializes in construction litigation."

Silver Spring Transit Center lawsuit tests ties between Metro, contractor - The Washington Post

I predict that this lawsuit will be settled out-of-court--too embarrassing for the principals, particularly Montgomery County and its politicians, and WMATA (albeit it's difficult to imagine WMATA, with their record, capable of being more embarrassed than they already should be).

PS Montgomery County and WMATA suing the contractor for negligence is TWO pots calling the kettle black! Montgomery County is construction manager of record for the Paul S. Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Center; and, WMATA, besides being the county's "partner" in the project, was paid by the county to provide construction document and construction review. And, WMATA is..., ... with WMATA's record..., well..., it's WMATA!

fixing WMATA

"The tension between growth and maintenance, of course, is not new. It has been a recurring issue at Metro for decades. Metro’s safety record -- which has long been criticized by safety inspectors -- came under especially heavy scrutiny after two of its trains collided in June 2009, killing nine people, including one of the operators. In its investigation of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the immediate cause of the accident was a faulty circuit in the system that controls the trains. But a contributing factor, the investigators said, was the longtime “lack of a safety culture” at Metro. ... If six years of service disruptions failed to improve much at the agency, there’s real reason to question whether a year of safety surges and indefinite early closures will do the trick."
http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/gov-wmata-transit-problems.html

WMATA

a very insightful comment to a very informative article:

Oh to be clear, there were no industry standards in America.

WMATA clearly had their own, internal standards. They just chose not to follow them! Fromthe NTSB report again, page 4:

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority was not following its tunnel-washing and insulator-cleaning procedure.

So in a sense, it's even worse than it seems! WMATA went through the trouble to develop its own policies and procedures that (for all we know at the moment) were totally sufficient and maybe even high-quality. Then, for unknown reasons, the Authority stopped following them. This contributed to a death. Then, the Authority promised to start following those procedures. Then, 16 months after that promise, it looks like that didn't happen!

Also, the references to stopping the washing for environmental reasons come from page 42 of the final NTSB report. The WMATA told the NTSB several things about the tunnel washing program and it's unclear (1) if it was actually stopped at any point and (2) if they stopped, why it was stopped. Overall, this isn't a favorable fact pattern for WMATA.

by WRD on Sep 28, 2016 2:32 pm

the entire article & all the comments: http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/33662/on-thursday-the-wmata-board-heard-about-why-metro-keeps-catching-on-fire-then-on-friday-metro-caught/

more WMATA mismanagement

WMATA wants a private company to run its parking facilities. That's a risky move. - Greater Greater Washington

another bad move by WMATA. 
Can WMATA manage anything well?

we can do better

The earthquake in Italy this week is a tragic reminder that we can do better. 

Earthquakes typically don't kill people; manmade structures falling on people typically kill people. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/08/28/pope-francis-pledges-visit-quake-devastation/89506686/

Close to home, the Paul S. Sarbanes (Silver Spring MD) Transit Center is a classic example of failures in new construction. The report commissioned by Montgomery County MD documents this:  https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DGS-BDC/Resources/Files/SS/509974/SSTC-Report-March-15-2013.pdf .

While the report provides many reasons for the construction failures, perhaps the main reason is that the construction manager of record, Montgomery County, failed to adequately monitor the poor construction as it occurred. As a result, the finished construction contains numerous known flaws (besides many that likely remain hidden), the majority of which are uncorrectable, short of demolition. 

FUBAR

one really screwed up organization:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-wmata-board-should-just-get-out-of-the-way/2016/08/17/5495c1e6-600c-11e6-84c1-6d27287896b5_story.html

After series of close calls, Metro ordered to make urgent fixes | WTOP

Is the Metro Mess Partly the Fault of Workers, or Just WMATA Leadership? - Washington DC, DC Patch

http://www.alexandrianews.org/2016/08/fta-releases-wmata-track-integrity-investigation-report-issues-safety-directive-to-correct-systemic-track-safety-problems/

http://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/wmata-metro-employees-stop-making-excuses

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/safety/news/FTA-WMATA-crews-broke-safety-rules-during-SafeTrack-work--48801

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/08/03/reports-washington-metro-cop-accused-aiding-terror-group/87995908/

WMATA mess

Arlington Sun Gazette editorial: Can WMATA really cut 500 jobs? - INSIDENOVA.COM: Editorials

"And of course, the billion-dollar question is why neither previous general managers nor members of the WMATA board of directors (like veteran Fairfax representative Catherine Hudgins or hapless, stuck-in-a-1982-mentality D.C. City Council member Jack Evans) didn’t think such a culling of the herd could, or should, be undertaken earlier."

2015 WMATA board chairman Mortimer Downey

SSTC, Rio style

Rio's Olympic Park venues 'a mess,' may even be unsafe experts warn | Fox News Latino

"Pedro Celestino, of the Rio’s Engineering Club, echoed the organizers about the buildings, but is critical of the way they carried out the works, by cutting corners and disrespecting protocols, he told FNL, "established worldwide."

Speeding up the pace of construction, he said, was their goal. "So it will be ready, but the quality of the work may be compromised. In many projects the company responsible for the design was also responsible for the construction and also supervision – when there should be three different companies, each performing one of those roles.”

Celestino concluded, “Yes, there may be incidents, since an important protocol was ignored. But they will be ready."

The emblematic case is the Tim Maia bike path alongside Niemeyer Avenue, which is not an official Olympic project but is being carried out by one of the firms that carried out work for the Games. Two people died when a part of the elevated lane simply collapsed.

"The company that built it was the same one that inspected it,” Celestino pointed out. “How can we trust this process?"

There is also precious little margin for error, since the budget of the city has already been stretched to its limit, and the state of Rio de Janeiro – which is footing the bill for security during the Games – recently declared an emergency in an attempt to get the federal government to issue funds that would allow the state to honor its commitments."

photo: a ramp built for competitors' boats to reach the water hangs after collapsing at the Marina da Gloria sailing venue just days before the start of the Olympic Games. Photo: Reuters

Buckle up. It could be interesting.

WMATA

WMATA and WUSA9 form unique partnership | WUSA9.com

"... a new partnership that is focused on finding solutions to the problems facing Metro, and helping restore the system to its former status as one of America's best public transportation systems." 

sounds good--I'll believe it when I see it. 

(No thanks to the employees, managers and politicians who messed up "one of America's best public transportation systems" in less than 40 years.)

"METRO has a severe learning disability"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/ntsb-report-on-fatal-2015-metro-smoke-incident-is-said-to-criticize-metro-first-responders-and-others/2016/05/02/a414f3d2-107e-11e6-8967-7ac733c56f12_story.html 

And, WMATA is suing Parsons Brinkerhoff for negligence in failing to oversee design and construction of the Silver Spring Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center (despite the fact that Montgomery County MD was the construction manager of record for the SSTC)! This is the same METRO that was paid a million dollars to review the plans and the construction; and, didn't discover that there are no expansion joints despite a METRO requirement that expansion joints be located no farther apart than every 100 feet! 

Good luck with your lawsuit, WMATA!

court casino

Montgomery Co. seeks $1.6M to cover Silver Spring Transit Center suit fees - WTOP

welcome to court casino. If reports are correct, then taxpayers are down $50 M and the Montgomery County MD executive is seeking another $1.6 M hoping to get a $77 M prize. A good bet? ... It would have been so much easier to "mind the store" in the first place.

from the comments to the WTOP report:

" 'it' covers a LOT of stuff over a LONG time. MoCo reviewed the plans and issued the permits--where are the expansion joints that WMATA requires every 100 feet? cracks appeared EARLY during construction--why wasn't something done then? pour strips in elevated closure slabs--how many people saw that there were NO rebars in the formed slabs before they were poured? watered down concrete--how does one(s) miss concrete that pours more like a liquid than a stiff mix. Who in construction doesn't know that in cold weather heat must be applied to curing concrete? and on and on..."

Silver Spring Transit Center 
Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center 
Montgomery County MD