I'm so angry right now, I hope I make sense here. First, I have twenty-five years experience in heavy construction, Capital project administrator experience with DuPont. I've built industrial plants, railways, chemical tank farms, roadways, bridges, many, many, major concrete support structures. This bridge project, in my opinion, was not built to any approved concrete design standards at all, the fact that the span was not supported at the time is totally unacceptable. At no time is it acceptable for the entire construction site to be open to pedestrian or for any traffic or work personnel until all spanning cables are in place for support, and for all testing is completed and signed off by structural engineering. Concrete testing reports of each and every pour is required to pass all standards. Concrete core samples have to pass a cure test as well. But most importantly, absolutely no personnel, equipment is allowed in the construction area at all times until the bridge is 100% complete, inspected and signed off from every engineer and state inspector there is. There are so many violations here it is impossible to cover them all right now. This is a multiple homicide event. There had to have been a lot of corruption and inferior work and lack of oversight on this project. Heads should roll.
I feel your anger my friend and totally understand it.
During my career I once worked for a large bridge construction company for 20 years. The DOT regulations are stringent as they should be. Each small phase has to be inspected by a certified DOT Engineer before they are allowed to go further.
Even if each span is built in the precast yard and erected at the site it still goes through extensive testing both when being in the precast yard being poured and onsite when its placed. Core testing of the concrete each time it is laid is a must along with the proper curing time for every new pour.
Every material that goes into the bridge goes through many tests. All of those things must be done and that is why it usually takes a long time for bridges to be completed.
Some seem to think it is the lack of regulations when that is totally misinformation. The regulations that must be followed when erecting any type of bridge is so many it will make most people's head spin. But they are a must and ethical bridge building companies know this and do it correctly each and every day across our highways.
Not once was our company fined by OSHA or by the DOT for not adhering to all the regulations required. We even imposed our own company safety regulations at all bridge sites to make sure the public and the bridge crew were protected. Safety was our number one priority. The company I worked for has been in business now for over 58 years, and not one bridge, overpass, or a overhead walkway bridge like this one has collapsed nor did they have to come back once completed to redo something that wasn't done properly.
The company I worked for is at the top pay scale for bridge construction crews so we were able to obtain very qualified workers with prior bridge building experience and once employed they have little turnover with many still being employed after 30-35 years or more.
Since this company was cited for having inexperienced and careless workers it seems to me all they cared about was cutting cost to make more profit. Probably many of these workers had no prior experience in bridge building and were paid minimal wages. Sadly, you get what you pay for and they would rather cut cost than build it correctly to ensure the safety for all.
ITA! Someone made a pact to pick this particular bridge company for why would they select them when they had already shown how little they thought about safety or having the proper bridge crew workers?
I would like to see a copy of the bids on this project to see if they low balled others when they bid. It could have even been bid rigging where someone tells this company what the other bridge companies bid on this job so they could do a lower bid. Bid rigging is a federal offense if it happened. Something sure smells to high heaven.
JMO
