Yeah: we're supposed to trust these same morons on the CRC: $200 million more to fix SR520 state "mistakes."

You know, $200 million of wasted taxpayer dollars ought to be enough to get a few people fired.

But given our complete lack of accountability in government, those responsible for this idiocy will likely be promoted.

And oh yeah, by the way?

These same slimeballs are in charge of the CRC rip off.

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Originally published February 26, 2013 at 9:09 PM | Page modified February 26, 2013 at 9:08 PM 

State admits costly mistakes on 520 bridge

The Washington State Department of Transportation acknowledged Tuesday its own design mistakes require tens of millions of dollars in fixes and changes to the new Highway 520 bridge pontoons. 

By Mike Lindblom Seattle Times transportation reporter

PREV 1 of 4 NEXT

Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times

The state chose to design the Highway 520 pontoons itself on a fast track, rather than delegate that responsibility to contractors. But now the price of fixes and delays may reach $100 million. This view of the eastern end shows construction adjacent to the existing bridge.

Read all 243 comments

Post a comment

    

Millions of dollars must be spent to fix pontoons being built for a new Highway 520 bridge, the state said Tuesday, after inspections on Lake Washington revealed that the pontoons’ worst cracks grew over the winter. 

Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond also said the problems likely will force officials to miss their December 2014 goal for opening the floating section of the new six-lane bridge. “I’m hopeful the project will be done within 2015,” she said.
The new costs, yet to be determined, will reach the tens of millions of dollars, and the bill will go mostly to the public rather than contractors — because the most severe cracking was triggered by what Hammond described as the state’s own design errors.
She doesn’t know if the price of the fixes and delays will reach $100 million but says she’s confident it will be less than the $200 million in a contingency budget for the multibillion-dollar 520 project. 

Much depends on whether the state and contractor Kiewit-General-Manson can accelerate the job, through double shifts or overlapping tasks, she said.
Disciplinary action will be sought against state Department of Transportation (DOT) bridge-division engineers who Hammond says broke with protocol. Among the problems, she said, was their failure to run models that would have shown the likelihood of cracking at the pontoon ends.

More.