Bills would rein in costs on major transportation projects
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OLYMPIA, Wash. -- State lawmakers are trying to rein in costs for major transportation projects -- a move prompted by issues first revealed by a Problem Solvers Investigation into the new 520 bridge.
Two bills considered Monday were both about accountability. One forces accountability for errors by state engineers; the other would force contractors to accept all risk for big projects.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Steve O'Ban, wants WSDOT to report engineering errors to the legislature, along with a review of how the errors happened and what kind of discipline was issued.
Over the past 10 years, O'Ban said design errors accounted for over $160 million in added taxpayer costs.
"There is no current requirement by DOT to keep track of these design errors, how much they cost, what corrective action was taken, if any, to prevent these from happening again," he said.
Former transportation secretary Paula Hammond announced two weeks ago that a design-flaw was responsible for the majority of problems with leaks and cracking in the pontoons for the new 520 bridge. But it is also a newer kind of "design build" contract. That's the focus of a second bill that would essentially force contractors to accept all risk for any project over half a billion dollars.
The bills do face an uphill battle, as while there is popular support for the idea of saving taxpayer money, they are complicated proposals and it's late in the Legislative session.
Two bills considered Monday were both about accountability. One forces accountability for errors by state engineers; the other would force contractors to accept all risk for big projects.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Steve O'Ban, wants WSDOT to report engineering errors to the legislature, along with a review of how the errors happened and what kind of discipline was issued.
Over the past 10 years, O'Ban said design errors accounted for over $160 million in added taxpayer costs.
"There is no current requirement by DOT to keep track of these design errors, how much they cost, what corrective action was taken, if any, to prevent these from happening again," he said.
Former transportation secretary Paula Hammond announced two weeks ago that a design-flaw was responsible for the majority of problems with leaks and cracking in the pontoons for the new 520 bridge. But it is also a newer kind of "design build" contract. That's the focus of a second bill that would essentially force contractors to accept all risk for any project over half a billion dollars.
The bills do face an uphill battle, as while there is popular support for the idea of saving taxpayer money, they are complicated proposals and it's late in the Legislative session.
ALL RISKS? including one that the project should never have been built? Responsibility must start with the legislature and we all know that's not going to happen. As a retired contractor, I know government work is insane.
I do love that last comment " it's late in the Legislative session.". Are they going to vote on this at midnight on the last day so they can avoid any ridicule like they have done in the past? We all know the public has a short memory so if we have to wait until the next session this won't even be an issue.
No such thing as engineers really any more. Its not that their stupid or anything its just that capitalism requires them not to do their jobs. Engineers could build all kinds of things like cars and everything else that would last a live time. But capitalism demands that all products have a shelf life and as short as possible. That way they all make big bucks on both ends of these products. Sales and repairs. Just capitalism working its magic.
@BlindmanÂ
Thank God Rob McKenna lost the election. Otherwise blindman would planting all Olympia problems past and present on his lap. Blindman is obviously a leftist to the core.
Liberals equate Capitalism with Republicans
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@the unvarnished truth i guess you never owned a 1955 washer and dryer that worked flawlessly til 1985 and then was given away to be used by someone else. sewing machines and vacuums were all lifetime items also. Cars were junk before Carter was around, '69 was about the end and there were plenty of 283s that made it 300 thousand miles and then you could pull the distributor out put it in a truck motor and drive away.Â
I wonder, was "Carter" a bad guy in one of your video games?
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@PilonidalCyst @Blindman lol Another talking head. No viable argument, just bigotry. If you have a point make it.
"The bills do face an uphill battle, as while there is popular support for the idea of saving taxpayer money, they are complicated proposals and it's late in the Legislative session."
They shouldn't face a battle at all, it's pretty much a no brainer! But of course, those in Olympia have to complicate things and go round and round for years before anything of significance gets done.
"the other would force contractors to accept all risk for big projects."
If that gets passed, that will effectively eliminate any contractor from doing any state project in WA State. Bonding requirements have increased over the years and are already so high on those huge projects that the costs involved are larger then the profit generated in many cases. No contractor could possibly risk so much on such little profit margin.
 How can you hang the liabilities of architectural and engineering mistakes on the contractor that is simply following an accepted, certified and mandatory spec book for a particular job that is authored by the engineers and architects?
...isn't nice that our lawmakers are doing this for us?  To bad it comes only after they wasted $100 Million.
This, the DSHS abuse & fraud, scamming ferry workers, other poor decisions by WSDOT...when will we get legislators & a Governor who will be proactive...not reactive when it comes to our tax dollars being wasted?
We need to also rein in inept decision making in Olympia, butÂ
I doubt we'll be seeing a bill on that one anytime soon.
I'm thinking they should have an independent firm look at these plans before the state goes ahead. Right now the people doing the work are the only people doing the work.
I'd like to see more transparency. Since the taxpayers are footing the bill, we have every right to see itemized budget vs actual costs for these projects with an explanation as to why there are any overages. Put it on a website and update it monthly.  This is already being done behind the scenes so it really wouldn't be any extra work to crunch the numbers.
We all know that the problem is a bloated State DOT. Patty Murray got highway funds diverted to build them a palace on the waterfront. They should be audited and all contracts reviewed to see what politicians got their palms greased.
@MonroeMad Every time there's a Recession/Depression you hear buzzwords like INFRASTRUCTURE and free money from the Federal Government etc. to create more worthless W.S.D.O.T jobs etc!
Grumpa: What do you think?
 The bills do face an uphill battle, as while there is popular support for the idea of saving taxpayer money, they are complicated proposals and it's late in the Legislative session.
So that's another way for Tracy Vedder and dem-agenda Komo to cover for how the liberal spenders in the legislature are going to try and oppose this bill while pretending not to? Because they'll just say "oh, it's late in the session" and then titter behind their hands...
Hey Tracy, why don't you do some investigative reporting and track down a legislator who opposes this bill and get them on record about why and then post it here? There must be some who oppose it since the bill doesn't list every single legislator as a co-sponsor. Instead it looks like Komo is going to try and make everyone believe that the bill somehow will somehow have magically self-combusted.Â
We know it's late in the session, the legislators do this so they can charge more money for an extra session and screw us over. So why would they ever want to approve a bill which limits waste? It would be nice to see Komo hold their feet to the fire though. Don't hold your breath on that one...
@NW-Economist  lol!
@NW-Economist It's my belief... Our government nationwide is an incurable cancer.... Us complaining about it...... Like wolves howlin' at the moon!
I fail to understand how making contractors responsible for all cost overruns on projects regardless of their liability for such extra costs would result in lower bid prices, but I'm not a super-smart politician like Mr. O'ban.
@PilonidalCyst Exactly. Make contractor's legally responsible for cost overruns and see bids double in price. A combination of transparency and oversight is needed. Hard to get, though, in this political climate.
Isn't that like closing the barn door after the cows got out?
Yep.... more lies.... Gotta implement a bill to introduce commonsense..... Go to the underworld bottom feeders......
does this bill cover mishaps like that dump they had to tear down, re-do the paint with the right kind and then totally reconstruct it at a different height because someone forgot to account for the overhead sprinkler system going in? can we also pass a bill that limits the engineers to a .08 bac while they are designing this stuff?
Fire the mafia union good ole boy network and let the private sector bid on the projects. Problem solved.
@ObsidianOneThe upper management team of Paula Hammond who was the cause of the SR 520 mess do not belong to an union. The Bridge Engineers who were blamed for some of the problems don't belong to an union either. To fix this disaster, Komo should suspend your account ⢠problem solved!
@AASHTO DOT lol..good one buddy. Any person who supports the unions usually sits in the peanut gallery belonging to them. I'd bet on it.