State's new transportation chief calls for mega-project review
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Incoming state Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson announced Thursday a comprehensive program assessment for three of the agency’s large-scale construction projects, including the problem-plagued 520 bridge replacement.
The announcement comes only a day after sources told KOMO News that more than a dozen state Department of Transportation workers - most of them top managers - have received disciplinary letters stemming from errors on the 520 bridge project. Those errors have already cost state taxpayers more than $100 million.
DOT officials said the mega-project assessment is designed to make sure that similar problems don't recur in the future.
"The assessment will review the process used for key project decisions and how those decisions are documented to ensure the best accountability and project-delivery practices," the state Department of Transportation said in a prepared statement.
Peterson said the review will be carried out under the direction of Ron Paananen, CH2M Hill program manager and former state DOT administrator and project director.
In addition to the 520 Bridge project, the assessment will also focus on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement and the Interstate 5 Columbia River crossing project.
Paananen’s review will consider and recommend any improvements that clarify lines of decision making and allow quick dispute resolution to provide cost-effective project delivery.
The review is expected to be complete by Sept. 30 and the results will be made public, Peterson said.
The announcement comes only a day after sources told KOMO News that more than a dozen state Department of Transportation workers - most of them top managers - have received disciplinary letters stemming from errors on the 520 bridge project. Those errors have already cost state taxpayers more than $100 million.
DOT officials said the mega-project assessment is designed to make sure that similar problems don't recur in the future.
"The assessment will review the process used for key project decisions and how those decisions are documented to ensure the best accountability and project-delivery practices," the state Department of Transportation said in a prepared statement.
Peterson said the review will be carried out under the direction of Ron Paananen, CH2M Hill program manager and former state DOT administrator and project director.
In addition to the 520 Bridge project, the assessment will also focus on the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement and the Interstate 5 Columbia River crossing project.
Paananen’s review will consider and recommend any improvements that clarify lines of decision making and allow quick dispute resolution to provide cost-effective project delivery.
The review is expected to be complete by Sept. 30 and the results will be made public, Peterson said.
great, a comprehensive review...
DOT worthless as ever.
"...CH2M Hill program manager and former state DOT administrator and project director."Â How can a DOT guy go to work for a contractor and come back and supervise his old buddies?
Oh NOOO! Not the disciplinary letter, wait the review is going to take SEVEN months, I guess they can go back wasting tax payers money.
It seems fairly straight forward.Shut them all down.Each of those three are totally overblown projects which we just can not afford.The bridge over the Columbia River is a total disaster because they are trying to stuff light rail into the project.To do that, the bridge needs to be too low to allow normal river traffic, as it has been designed so far, or if high enough it will need very long ramps.All of that with no guarantee that the rail will actually have much use.The tunnel is a failure due to the fact it is undersized to the point it could not handle todayâs traffic, let alone what is expected in the future.The 520 bridge can not be built as designed.The design for the pontoons is so flawed that they will not likely last 5 years.Even if they bring in a real professional design team, they may conclude that pontoons of that size are not possible using this technique.A totally different pontoon construction would take decades of testing, requiring an engineering budget almost as big as the bridge itself.All three of these boondoggles come at a time of budget shortfalls at both state and national levels.
I wonder how much this mega project review will cost the taxpayers who already that the WSDOT is run by a bunch of idiots...
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And how much is this "review" gonna cost us? You know, like the exploratory committees for the Alaskan Way Viaduct?Â
Any estimates on how much this review will cost? Did Hammond just skip town without advising her replacement? So we all have to do our homework again because the newbie couldn't hit the ground running?Â
wow, did she think this up all by herself?