Posted on 04/02/2005 12:34:33 PM PST by NormsRevenge
The experimental lightweight concrete on the new Benicia Bridge is not drying properly, and Caltrans says it may need $130 million to correct the problem.
It is only the latest in a series of snafus that have plagued the new Interstate 680 span and caused costs to shoot up from an official estimate of $385 million in 1999 to $1.06 billion before Caltrans' discovery this week.
First, poor rock quality under the Carquinez Strait slowed and complicated the construction of foundations. Then, noise from the work unexpectedly killed endangered fish.
Then, Caltrans design mistakes, including failing to prepare for construction with scale models, caused expensive mid-course changes.
Then Wednesday, Caltrans Director Will Kempton reported the new concrete problem in a letter to the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which is collecting bridge tolls to pay for the new bridge and helping oversee its construction.
Kempton reported that lightweight concrete used on the bridge "is overheating during the curing process and this is creating problems for the concrete as it sets."
Kempton proposed a cooling system that he said could correct the problem for $80 million to $130 million.
Only last year, Caltrans asked for an extra $405 million for the Benicia Bridge. Overruns perennially threaten to stall other Bay Area projects, notably an I-880/Highway 92 interchange in Hayward, which depends on toll revenues.
In this instance, MTC appeared to appreciate Kempton's honesty and his offer to "jointly investigate" the concrete problem and solve it together.
"That tone is different than what we experienced in prior years. Will Kempton is trying to change this department, and we like a lot of the changes," MTC spokesman Randy Rentschler said.
"Our hope is that all the good things he is trying to do don't get overshadowed by the debate of the Bay Bridge design. That is making it harder and everybody is trying to rise above it."
The Bay Bridge comes into play because lead contractor Kiewit Pacific and design firm T.Y. Lin International designed the Benicia Bridge and the under-construction skyway near Oakland.
Rentschler said his 19-member commission will ask at its next meeting why taxpayers should foot the latest bill on the Benicia Bridge and whether the concrete problem would resurface if Kiewit is picked to build a concrete skyway all the way to Yerba Buena Island.
Caltrans spokesman David Anderson said the concrete cooling idea is beyond the scope of the contract with Kiewit, and therefore, the state's responsibility. Caltrans said parallels to the Bay Bridge miss the point because concrete segments are pre-cast in Stockton, where they cure in the sun for months before being barged to the Bay Bridge construction site.
PPPPPP...
It's amazing how the US built it's great highway system decades ago when now it cost's a billion dollars to build one lousy bridge. Or even worse here in Boston 14.5 Billion for 3 miles of highway, a bridge and a leaky tunnel.
The question is who is Kiewit?
These guys should submit their resumes to the United Nations, look like they would fit right in.
Kiewit is a large construction company that has built large projects for over 50 years. I don't know the details of this, but I have seen many times when a designer gets a hairbrained idea and writes it into the drawings and specifications. When the contractor (any contractor) tries to build it that way, it doesn't work. Is it their fault? If they did it any other way (other than the way it was designed) it would definitely be their fault. Following the engineers who designed it is exactly what the contractor is supposed to do.
The way this article is written, it looks like that was the case here. Go after the engineering firm.
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