In March 2013 Montgomery County, MD posted a report on its website that details the SSTC's serious design, construction and concrete testing and inspection errors and omissions that resulted in, among other flaws, extensive concrete cracking. Since the March 2013 report additional flaws have been discovered, including leaks and 250 under-designed beams.
According to Montgomery County's website, 53% of the funding for the SSTC is federal funding (administered through the Federal Transit Administration), 11% Maryland Mass Transit Administration and 36 % Montgomery County. Citizens from all 50 states are paying for the over-budget, overdue, severely flawed SSTC. Yet, unilaterally, without public input, Montgomery County is spending millions more making repairs.
The SSTC is a public-private partnership. The builder/contractor, the engineer/designer and the concrete inspection/testing firm and special quality inspector were chosen by Montgomery County. The SSTC was not bid for construction, as has been standard practice for public works projects for decades.
There are many questions to be aswered with the SSTC, including:
- Why did Montgomery County choose Foulger-Pratt to build the SSTC, Parsons Brinkerhoff to design it, and Balter Co. to inspect and test concrete and to serve as special quality inspector? Were political contributions part of the selection process? Why wasn't the SSTC bid for construction in the traditional open process?
- Why weren't the extensive cracking and other design, construction and concrete inspection and testing errors and omissions dealt with earlier, instead of when the SSTC is almost complete? (In addition to a full time, on-site construction management team of Montgomery County employees, periodic inspections during construction were made by other Montgomery County employees.)
- Why is Montgomery County proceeding with millions of dollars in repairs to the yet-to-be-opened SSTC without public input? Why haven't the Federal Transit Administration and Maryland Mass Transit Administration required Montgomery County to hold open public meetings to explain to the paying public what they are doing and why?
- Is the SSTC safe? Will the SSTC's design and construction flaws make operation and maintenance of the SSTC exorbitantly expensive? Why hasn't there been an independent (by those not paid for by Montgomery County, MD) investigation of the SSTC's serious flaws?
For more on the SSTC, search "Silver Spring Transit Center".
Links:
- http://silverspringtransitcenter.blogspot.com/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31bAYkx9eBY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82HhnCzC6IY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyyVJQmMewo
