Investigation uncovers claims of costly cover-up on 520 project
SEATTLE -- Washington State Department of Transportation sources call it a cover-up - one that could ultimately cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
A KOMO 4 Problem Solver investigation has uncovered evidence of widespread leaks and cracks in pontoons destined for the new $4.6 billion 520 bridge. Our investigation revealed construction flaws in every single one of the first six pontoons built for the new bridge.
“Two separate WSDOT insiders, who asked to remain anonymous, tell us they've never seen this many leaks,” said KOMO 4 Problem Solver Tracy Vedder. “And what they called extensive cracking - in brand new pontoons.”
State Representative Mike Armstrong, the ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, reviewed our findings.
“We have to make sure that we have it fixed, now, before we start building these other what - probably 30 pontoons,” said Armstrong.
Yet until now the Washington Department of Transportation had kept this new evidence under wraps.
“The Problem Solvers obtained thousands of pages of public records, and hours of video inspections inside the first six pontoons built in Aberdeen and floated to Lake Washington,” said Vedder. “What we found is far different from what the Washington Department of Transportation - WSDOT- told us just last month.”
Watch Tracy Vedder’s full investigation, see the video evidence, hear Tracy confront the state and find out how much all of this could be costing taxpayers tonight on KOMO 4 News at 11:00 p.m.
Everybody make Money for this Deal...  Except the Middle Class! Vote for the next  MoneyMaker's  of the State of Washington Politicians ( Top to Bottom of the Pole) But the Middle Class is at the bottom of the POLE.  $$$$$$$+++$$$$$$=VOTE FOR US!!!     P.S. I Don't Vote and I'm still getting ROB from them...
Okay folks, here's the deal. We have a contractor who has estimators, engineers, and so forth sitting in an office drinking beer while working. Nobody can deny this fact since while KOMO is there in the office camera rolling as we watch two employees walking right in with racks of beer right under there arms. Now, as if this isn't enough there are now documented issues with the construction process and the results that have occured, which have been attempted to be covered up until unedited ducuments attained under the Freedom of Information Act show the truth. There is no doubt that there a serious engineering problems that if not addressed promptly and "TRUTHFULLY" by both Washington State Department of Transportationcan and Kewit/ General will cost lives sooner than later!
 Now, for all of you so called armchair enginers who post on here listen up, and listen good. If you haven't built at least a couple dozen mega bridges spanning across the globe and have a Phd. in structural, civil, and mechanical engineering a few times over by industry standards, which also means you are published, then it would be much appreciated if you would not attempt to narrate to the public what is going on.
 Now this being said, as a Washington State tax payer and someone who has children who commutes this bridge regularly I do not and will not put up with lies, excuses, and so on. We who actually call this our home, cannot and will not stand for anyone lying to us and then in a futal attempt to save face, pass the blame for there inability to do a job that " We the taxpayers" are paying you for. You have know business attempting to build a bridge that you obviously do not know how to build. I know that I will be the fist one in line to file a criminal complaint and hold accountable "ALL" individualls responsibile and have them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Am I upset and disgusted? Heck yes I am. Four billion six hundred thousand dollars is more money that I can ever fathom. I expect for this kind of money I wouldn't just have a bridge that is safe and last 75 years, but a bridge that is safe and last over one hundred years!
 @Eastside Parent Bravo!! Couldn't have said it any better.
What this report will likely fail tell you is that there is no leaking from the exterior walls to the interior. All the leaking they show is from temporary water ballasting cells to permant rock ballast cells. The water is just to see future water condisation pumping. The Post tension problems were caused by faulty design that WSDOT performed in house. There was a request for a change in the PT layout that was approved by the state and was likey never properly looked at by their engineering staff. KGM has some of the best people working on this project. What people fail to understand is that construction is very complicated and has many factors that are un controllable. Plus, the cracks are repairable without li iting the 75 year designed lifespan of the bridge.
@Bob Stevens
Bob, you are incorrect in asserting that there is no leaking through the exterior walls. Even if you were correct that only interior cells are leaking, then please explain to readers why the interior walls should be leaking at all. The interior cells are there to provide redundancy in case an exterior wall is breached. (Do you remember the first I-90 Lacey V. Murrow Bridge sinking in November 1990?) There is obviously no buoyant redundancy if the interior cells leak.
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The expert panel review concluded that the post-tensioning was, in fact, designed correctly. Problem is that the contractor was careless in not placing the post-tensioning ducts at the correct depth within the walls and slabs. Wall openings were moved to unapproved locations without appropriately relocating tendon ducts. The contractor also placed some of the PT at the wrong locations - in unthickened concrete sections. Duct radii in anchorage zones were not layed out per the plans and had inadequate confinement reinforcement. You are correct that these were changes to the post-tensioning shown in the contract drawings. I'm pretty certain that you are incorrect, though, in stating that the State approved those changes. Those changes were never submitted to the State for approval.
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Yes, construction is complicated and many factors are uncontrollable. However, installing PT at the properly designed locations and depths is VERY controllable!!
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By the way, curing is "pretty standard across the board" for standard projects only. This most certainly is NOT a standard project. These pontoons clearly fall under the category of "mass concrete", defined by the American Concrete Institute as "any volume of concrete with dimensions large enough to require that measures be taken to cope with generation of heat from hydration of the cement and attendant volume change, to minimize cracking." The fact that this contractor doesn't understand that fact also explains many of the problems being reported here. It's really too bad that the lessons learned on the 1/6 scale pontoons constructed as part of the Accelerated Construction Methods and Engineering project were never implemented.
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The onus is upon this contractor to prove that the cracks are repairable without limiting the 75-year life span of the structure. I would contend that that is impossible in light of the fact that the repairs made last summer were already leaking by August. The I-90 floating bridges certainly are not leaking like this even after nearly 30 years of service!!!
@Eduardo Capistrano The I-90 bridge sank because they left ducts open, thus allowing water to enter the ponotoons and sink them. It was not a design issue, so much as a stupid mistake issue (one the contractor and WSDOT took repsonsibility for).
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Mass concrete concerns applied for the corners and not the walls. The walls are 12" thick and each placed section is approximately 20 yds^3 of concrete. This is not "mass concrete." If the entire pontoon was placed at the same time you'd be correct, but they aren't.
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The post tensioning system was installed correctly. I can not state this more clearly. The changes were approved by WSDOT. Having seen pt in buildings, bridges, from single to multi strand issues like these failures were from design and not placement issues. Most failures from missplacement cause failures in isolated areas, not in EVERY SINGLE PLACE. The fix is to lessen the curve and to not place concrete in the more extreem curved areas. Then to pour back after tensioning. This fix is indicative of engineering failures and poor design. Compounded with the need to ensure proper weight.
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The report posted one KOMO does not indicate leaking from exterior walls. They are only asking for submittals for repair procedures if they occur. Submittals for state jobs take time and a lot of information and testing of materials. So to push to have those procedures in place is to expodite repair IF needed.
@Bob Stevens Looks like we have ourselves a contractor troll!
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 @Bob Stevens I'm not sure where you are getting your information, but the WSDOT says that Kiewit General did not follow the design drawings for placing the cables for post tensioning, and used a different type of cement than was in the plans.  And KG also didn't follow all the contractual requirements for curing the concrete.
@CommutingGuy KG asked for a deviation and WSDOT approved two separate RFIs granting the deviation. They are using a pretty standard type I/II cement based concrete, one that is breaking at 200+% over design strength (4k design strength with 8 to 10k actual strength). I really don't know about the curing plan, but it's unlikely they deviated. Curing is pretty standard across the board and contractors follow it with little push back.
Welcome to  Washington state. Cost overruns, corruption, cover-up, fraud, squandering of tax-payer money by the billions is just the norm.
When people ask why I support initiative 1198, this is what I point to. The govt is in the business of spending someone esles money with accountability. Why in the hell are we paying 2 billion for a bridge which will last only 75 years and will cost millions of dollars in maintenance due to faulty construction??
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To hide their incompetence, they will now ask us to bear this cost by taxing us to pay for this construction blunders. They know that they can simply reach into our pockets and fund all this without any repercussions.
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I will keep supporting 1198 and any other initiatives unless the state can categorically prove that they are serious about the money they spend and not be like a freakin teenager in forever 21 with their parents credit card
Outragous  Paula Hammond start doing your job or move on . The tax payers are getting screwed
Hello DOT!!! STOP ANY AND ALL PAYMENTS NOW!!! Put the project on hold, find contractors that will do the job right, have the under utilized state retained attorneys put the company who built the shoddy pontoons out of business and do this job right. This story makes me want to vomit, what do you mean these mistakes will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars? Ummm someone needs to be held accountable and put in jail if that is the case because I smell fraud a mile long here folks. Aren't there insurance policies put in place to protect the citizens from this kind of crap?!
They just don't build things like they used to. Scary that the whole idea behind the bridge replacement was supposed to be to have a bridge that is more safe and can withstand larger earthquakes. Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! Until these companies are held accountable for shoddy workmanship, that's exactly what the taxpayers will keep getting and paying for. If fixing their mistakes puts them out of business, then too freaking bad. Find someone else who can do the job!
@chuckh0308 Well, what do you expect when you give the job to the lowest bidder.
What happens when highway contractors try to build BOATS!
it's sad that the city will continue with this failed contracting and we'll end up paying 125% of the total in creation and repairs of these crappy pontoons. why would the state let this slide is my question
People in China call this "TOFU Project",poor and cheap workmanship.
Just can't believe this happens at home here,someone in the State Gov't slacking off !!!!
Crimal charges pending? I am not going to hold by breath.
GASP!
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How could this be?
the company should do the work as agreed. should have nothing to do with taxes at this point.
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the company took the job - see it through correctly. what a bunch of BS.
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sad state of affairs - we used to build things well in this country. now....whatever gets slapped together passes as a job well done.
This whole project is and will remain a sham. Truth be told Federal money is being dished out all over the country for outright theft. Infrastructure is a complete mafia type scam being committed nationally ... The costs are always overinflated, easily stolen and nobody truly knows where all the money went when supposedly finished.
@Funky-Munky - It's a dirty shame.
 @Funky-Munky  "The costs are always overinflated, easily stolen and nobody truly knows where all the money went when supposedly finished."
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Sounds like business as usual to me.Â
The same company that is building the 520 pontoons built the new pontoons for the Hood Canal bridge. Are there cracks in the Hood Canal pontoons? If not what was changed? Are the pontoons built in Tacoma good and the ones built in Grays Harbor leakers / cracked, or are all of them leakers / cracked?
 @rockguy Oh fine...I had it all figured out. I wouldn't drive over the new 520 bridge until you posted the same company made the pontoons for the Hood Canal Bridge.  I have to take that bridge because of where we live.  I wonder how much it would cost to buy a small power barge...
 @rockguy I fully believe they're all no good pertaining to the pontoon bridge... They will just try and use them anyways regardless of safety issues. Too much money to fix, improve or redesign them. I could be 100% wrong about it... We will see what happens and who gets stuck paying for their mistakes...
Kind of sounds like the same outfit that put in the tolling system let the word out where the easy monies could be found...
And guess whose paying for the mistake!
I am not driving on that new bridge!
Make no mistake. Every state agency will shuffle and throw the blame every where out of their ballpark. Regardless, this project is a state and federal project, so they (we) are accountable. This is one of the biggest projects going on in Washington right now, and one can only blame the state for being incompetent in oversight. I suggest the tunnel in Seattle be halted immediately.
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Responsibility? Consequences? - urban myth.
As always, we bend over and take it where the sun don't shine whilst the officials keep their overpaid state jobs and the offenders laugh all the way to the bank.
The corruption never ends. Â Â
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The company who screwed up needs to refund the money, after that, fire them and get the next bidder in line.
 @NorthwestEconomist I think the company you are talking about is the WSDOT.Â
Rushing these concrete pours to get floated is one of the MANY errors that are being committed. Concrete takes the correct conditions and TIME to cure properly. Additionally, I would be willing to bet the incorrect formulation is being used, the tensioning is being applied while the concrete is still green and the entire project is engineered wrong from the outset.
This is what you get when the lowest bidder wins the contract.
@Glassman Nah, they are probably just using recycled concrete from the viaduct
Why would this end up a tax payers problem? Â Shouldn't the manufacturers of the pontoons be responsible for delivery products that aren't broken? Â Isn't that how its done in any and all retail businesses?
 @Landshark Why wouldn't it be in this wonderful state? When the contractors working on the 16 interchange screwed that up, did they have to pay for it? Nope....we the people did. Why? Because we LET them saddle us with the bill.
 @dg54321:Â
Likewise, the joke of a tolling system on 520 - behind schedule, over budget, contiuing problems - but no penalties assesed, not held even to their contract for fines & penalties.
They should have been made to deliver a quality working project on time & on budget, as contracted - and if they could not they should have paid every penny in penalties & fines that the contract stipulated.
Conventional economics is so far removed from the real world. Ask an economist where they put the web of life in their equation and they will all say it's an externality. The Lilly pond is half full yet the debt keeps doubling! Rome did not forgive debts and instead conquered kingdoms for those that did. So why am I saying all this mumbo? Quite simple, the ten percent aka bankers will never forgive the debts and how do all civilizations repay their debts, by stripping away every resource Earth has to offer. The economy relies on forests, oceans, etc to repay our debts and at all costs even if we destroy our only home we have. We don't always see the debt this way, but it's that simple. When they say the tax payer has to pay for this or for that it's really Earth that ultimately pays. Our brains as are have not changed in the last 50,000 years yet civilization has only been around for 5,000 years - we are spreading like wildfire before our brains have even had the chance to catch up and evolve to match the ever-changing civilization. We are in a position to control our own fate yet the microbes are all going to end up laughing at us because we have dine it all wrong!!!!!! So tax us, tax us, tax us we are consumption is greater than the whole!
Does the incompetence never end?
 @buggy If it has anything to do with government, the answer is NO......
I asume that al those white lines behind the workers are really lines of epoxy over cracks. What happened with the pour? Too hot, too dry, wrong concrete mix? Who engineered this mess?