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A manufacturing problem with the U.S. Navy's new Virginia class SSNs (nuclear attack subs) has delayed the commissioning of a new boat, the USS New Mexico. The ceremony will be delayed from November 21st, to sometime in January or February. The problem has to do with bolts that were not manufactured to specifications. These bolts hold together the track system that is used to move torpedoes and other weapons around the "weapons room". The poorly manufactured bolts will hold the tracks together under peacetime conditions. But in the stress of combat (like depth charges or violent maneuvers) they are likely...

Sacramento -- A state Senate committee approved a $7.7 billion bond proposal Tuesday that would help pay for the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, along with a variety of transportation, port and levee projects throughout the state. "This is basically a savings plan," said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, the bill's sponsor. "We are going to save California's economy by doing this."

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Welds on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge are not faulty as had been alleged by former welders who claimed the work was dangerously unsafe, the Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday. Private inspectors hired by the Federal Highway Administration have been cutting out sections of steel foundation work in the Bay Bridge to test for the allegedly faulty welding. The agency reported Wednesday it found no evidence of shoddy, unsafe welds. The FBI, the Federal Highway Administration and state attorney general's office began several weeks ago investigating allegations by former project welders that they...

Squeezed inside an enclosed box , a welder works in scorching conditions to join two steel legs that support the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. A supervisor working for the contractor checks the crucial first weld, followed by an independent inspector required to test the weld within 30 minutes. Another inspector hired by Caltrans reviews the initial inspector's paperwork to make sure everything is OK. The Caltrans-hired inspector also randomly checks about 10 percent of the welds. If substandard welds exist on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, the work would have slipped by a chain...

The new Bay Bridge is riddled with defective welds, 15 welders told the Oakland Tribune in a nine-month investigation - allegations that could lead to criminal fraud charges. The welders' claims have prompted an FBI investigation. In the worst case, the federal probe could lead to tearing apart the bridge to see if it is structurally sound or needs to be rebuilt. The FBI began investigating allegations in February that welders were "encouraged or instructed to save time by producing substandard welds," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark Mershon of the bureau's San Francisco division. The bureau is investigating...