Posted on 08/06/2007 3:30:50 PM PDT by SeafoodGumbo
The owner of Tarrasco Steel, a company that supplied workers on the Biloxi Bay Bridge, was arrested and charged with hiring illegal immigrants on projects in three states. Some had improper welding certification.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Jose S. Gonzalez, 32, at his office in Greenville Thursday, according to a news release. Tarrasco Steel was hired as a subcontractor for rebar installation services to major bridge projects in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. The federal government considers those bridges as critical infrastructure, and they were part of routine inspections of facilities that if damaged could pose a threat to national security and public safety.
"There is a serious public safety concern when illegal aliens, who are not authorized to work in the country legally, and who do not possess valid welding certifications, are employed in the construction of bridges in our communities," said Michael A. Holt, special agent in charge of the Customs Office of Investigations in New Orleans, in a news release.
On inspections of several construction sites March 29, representatives of several federal agencies confirmed the majority of Tarrasco Steel employees were using bogus Social Security numbers, and 77 immigrants were arrested. Twenty-six of them worked for Tarrasco Steel. Some of them worked on the Biloxi bridge, the Huey P. Long bridge in New Orleans, and a project on Interstate 40 in Memphis, among others, the news release said.
In April, nine Tarrasco employees caught in the March 29 operations were charged with fraudulent use of immigration documents and Social Security account numbers. Investigators served a search warrant at the Tarrasco office in Greenville and they got copies of payroll records. They allege Gonzalez falsified information on the I-9 Employee Eligibility forms. Investigators learned that several workers had inappropriate welding certifications.
Several South Mississippi law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation, including the Harrison County Sheriff's Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Biloxi Police Department.
Gonzalez was indicted on July 29 and $457,368 has been seized from Tarrasco accounts, the news release said.
Issue bid to rebuild bridged and let Tarrasco steel and the prime contractor pay for the rebuild. Then action off all their assets as a fine.
There are all those old stories about construction projects where ribar is moved after an inspection in order to save costs.
Since he was falsifying the welding papers, I would say he was pocketing the difference of what he had listed as salary and not paying taxes on his stolen money. Therefore I would bet it was an IRS seizure and it would be legal.
Ah the good ol’ days... I was a steamfitter welder at plants 1,2, & 4 and we used to complain about the crappy welds on the prefabbed pipe all of the time. Of course our welds had to be perfect (100% x-ray) right next to a weld that had porosity, wires sticking through it, and blow holes, (basically name the defect and it was right there) and the QC/QA would do nothing about it.
As far as welding rebar, the Ironheads were certified CAD welders to splice rebar together. Basically a special coupling that is placed over the ends of both pieces and electrically charged to weld the two together. Lots of big sparks when they did that...
I wonder what it takes to get a welding certificate. And I wonder how many bridges were built in this country with non-certificate-wielding welders. And I wonder how many of those bridges collapsed.
I think the only welding the mexicans are doing is on some false work. That’s all tore down before any traffic crosses.
See Post #24...
Cad welding is done with gunpowder.
Electricians also use the pots for ground cable.
“Ironhead till I’m dead!”
Cadwelding is done only when the engineer requires it!
Not done very much anymore.
I can remember when Americans tyed rebar.
Black, White, Lumbi Indians fron NC were big into it!
Splicing rebar with gunpowder? When was this? 50 years ago?
To my knowledge, there is no rebar splicing done that way in the field. It is tied with tie wire. The theory is that the bond to the concrete creates a coupling between the two rebar ends. The ends have to be overlapped a certain minimal distance as specified in the bridge code.
Now, on a building with column and beam intersections, maybe there is an application, but I really don’t think this is done anymore on bridges.
I took a 2 year tech program at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA. 1 year plate welding, 1 year pipe welding. After that I went down to the union hall and they sent me out on the job. There you go through the weld test lab and get all of your certifications....
Hey, like I said I was steamfitter. we had all of the conditions and gravy work compared to you guys...Never quite figured out the mentallity of your average Ironhead...Not that that is bad thing just alot harder work and working conditions...
Have you ever worked heavy construction?
I worked in a lab that tested experimental bridge designs. We built full scale sections of bridges and then broke them with huge hydraulic jacks to see how strong they were. Concrete only though, no steel. Concrete bridge girders and concrete decks. I had to know some construction, some engineering, and how to run the computers that ran the hydraulics and sensors.
I worked in the engineering office of a company that built parking garages too. But not anymore.
“There are a huge number of different welding certificates and most are hard to get since the welding is difficult. It is one thing to hire welders with proper certification and another to hire uncertified welders who might have excellent welding skills. Big problem for the construction company since it involves bonding and that is big money.”
I was at the local welding supply shop the other day and got to talking with the sales clerk. He said the illegals were undercutting the American welders here in Longmont, Co. The contractors are hiring them knowing full well they are illegal.
I worked 15 years in the trade and finally got out and got my Civil Engineering degree, and now I am PE. I didn’t want to end up a broke down old construction worker...Not a lot of need for steamfitters on bridges but did work on a lot of reactors, refineries, and pulp mills across this country...
...lots of neat welding here....
These guys did a nice job repairing my scrunched untra-rare Termignoni Farne’ big tube exhaust for my Ducati 888.
I get major wood lookin’ at those Ti frames!
Whew!
Overall good comment but the operating nuclear power reactor 11 miles from me might beg to differ.
I can see why!!! I wonder if they would make some for my ‘05 Springer???
You live in Richland???
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