When liberal Democrats build bridges, incompetence and failure is the norm

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/18/5431401/corrosion-plagues-new-bay-
bridge.html

Published: Saturday, May. 18, 2013 - 8:30 pm | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, May. 20, 2013 - 1:56 pm

Doug Coe, a normally confident engineering manager for the new east span
of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, walked into the nearby Oakland
project office looking as if he were fighting back tears. Joel Sayre, then
a bridge spokesman who worked there, remembers tensing in alarm.

Engineers had discovered an alarming corrosion problem with the "post-
tension" tendons, and were pumping gallons of rusty water from the ducts
that held them, Sayre said Coe told him. "Oh my god," he recalled Coe
saying that afternoon in late spring of 2006. "What are we going to do?"

Coe, whom the California Department of Transportation would not permit to
answer questions, was talking about thousands of steel tendons in the
skyway section of the new span � the elevated roadway that runs from the
Oakland footing to the suspension bridge near Yerba Buena Island. Ducts
containing the tendons, crucial to structural integrity, had been left
unsealed. Rainfall and water used to cure concrete, tainted by
construction debris exposed to salty bay mist, had entered many of them.

The bridge was billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
Rusty water meant tendons had corroded. Sayre said Coe, lead skyway
engineer, described a potential nightmare that could stop construction
cold.

Such concerns led Caltrans to examine hundreds of tendons. The agency
found little significant corrosion � a false alarm. It laid out that
conclusion in a report and moved on.

Because of the concerns of Sayre and others, The Bee compared that
Caltrans study against about 115,000 pages of construction and inspection
records and found the conclusions were based on wrong information. The
records show that the agency misstated in its report the extent of water
contamination and its own inspection efforts. Conclusions that corrosion
caused no harm were based partly on underestimates about how long tendons
were left exposed and vulnerable, and on suspect testing methods.

In March, anchor bolts meant to secure seismic equipment on the new bridge
broke � an event attributed partly to water-induced corrosion. Caltrans
similarly failed to take basic precautions to protect many skyway tendons
from water even after the agency completed its study. Those lapses and
others, said nine leading experts in the corrosion of bridge tendons,
introduced uncertainty about the durability of the skyway.

Experts said that while a total collapse seemed unlikely, if Caltrans
miscalculated corrosion estimates a major quake could cripple sections of
the skyway. The span's construction violated universally accepted
techniques meant to prevent corrosion, they said, and could result in
costly inspection and maintenance headaches nearly unheard of for similar
modern bridges.

Among The Bee's findings:

� Beginning more than two years before Coe's discovery, inspectors
frequently warned about water leaks and corrosion. Bridge spokesman Andrew
Gordon could not say why officials failed to address the problems without
significant research.

� Experts blamed water problems on design or construction errors. Leaks of
grout � a cement-based filler that normally prevents or halts corrosion �
between hundreds of ducts forced long construction delays that left
tendons exposed. They said the errors made further, unseen corrosion of
tendons likely.

� Caltrans used the wrong tests for corrosion, resulting in "essentially
useless" findings, said UC Berkeley engineering professor Thomas Devine,
an internationally known authority on corrosion-caused cracking in metals.
He called the agency's research "woefully inadequate" and "meaningless"
for detecting "environmentally assisted cracking," which can worsen as
tendons fatigue under stress, and can ultimately cause breaks.

� University of South Florida professor Alberto A. Sag��s, sole
independent evaluator of the Caltrans study, gave it a vote of confidence
based on faulty assumptions provided by Caltrans. Sag��s declined to
comment.

Caltrans declined Bee requests to interview toll bridge manager Tony
Anziano and chief Bay Bridge engineer Brian Maroney about the tendons.

In written responses to questions, Gordon said "Corrosion has been an
issue since the first steel bridge was built, and what we learned from
this particular challenge six years ago is that we're never going to be
done fighting the battle against corrosion in the San Francisco Bay."

Neil Hawkins, engineering professor emeritus at the University of
Illinois, reviewed the Caltrans study and other documents for The Bee. He
said in an email that the agency probably had faced a grim dilemma when
the problems came to light.

"The alternatives may have been proceeding as they have done or tearing
down completely the existing construction," Hawkins said. "The issue then
becomes both technical, economic and political. Who bears the blame and
why did this irregularity occur?"

Duct tape defense

On a cool, overcast day in November 2004, during a routine check of the
bridge deck, Caltrans inspector Laura Rubalcaba stumbled on a surprise:

Water was leaking through damaged vents that led into tendon ducts.
Those galvanized steel ducts run inside the concrete segments that make up
much of the bridge. Once tendons are inserted into the ducts and anchored
at one end, hydraulic jacks stretch or "stress" the tendons, compressing
segments to boost strength. Builders then fill ducts with grout to protect
the tendons against corrosion.

Such methods have been commonplace, worldwide, since the 1950s. Until
recent decades, water leaks that caused tendons to corrode also were
common. Corroded tendons can crack and rupture, causing maintenance
headaches � or in extreme cases, bridge failures. In 1992, after some
structures collapsed, United Kingdom authorities declared a four-year
moratorium on post-tensioned bridge construction � and a longer moratorium
for using the technique on bridges that, like the skyway, are built from
precast segments. In 1999 and 2000, major Florida bridges failed due to
tendon corrosion.

Strict federal and state rules were developed to ensure that salt, water
and construction debris can't enter ducts and corrode tendons. Those rules
� and the skyway contract � required grouting within 10 days of tendon
installation; 30 days if the builder blows a rust-inhibiting powder into
the ducts.

Rubalcaba, like dozens of other inspectors, policed contractors who built
the bridge. Where she stood, according to construction diaries, many
tendons in ungrouted ducts had been installed more than two months
earlier.

"(T)he top of the grout injection/vent hoses were not sealed against the
rain," she wrote in her daily inspection diary, referring to vents used to
insert grout or let air escape during grouting.

"I � found many instances where it was obviuos (sic) that rain water was
already in the ducts with the stresssed (sic) tendons," she wrote.
Caltrans did not suspend work, as required by the contract. Instead, in
the style of an overgrown home-improvement project, "I duct taped over the
tops of the tubes myself," she noted.

Duct tape, America's beloved fix-it solution, thereby became one Caltrans
inspector's first line of defense against a potentially major problem on
an iconic $6.4 billion bridge. That day occurred near the genesis of
grouting delays that left some tendons unprotected for nearly 17 months.

Six months later, Rubalcaba reported damaged grout vents along a third-of-
a-mile stretch of the bridge roadway. Other inspectors made dozens of
similar warnings, going back years before skyway chief Coe's revelation.

Inspector Art Pannu noted water entering at a joint between concrete
sections.

Mehdi Bassiri recorded that "almost 25-30 feet of tendon fell into water,"
apparently referring to bay water. "They let it dry up and pulled it into
the duct � two kinks could be seen." Saltwater and kinked strands often
lead to corrosion and rupture.

Supervisors signed off on each warning. Each described a violation of the
contract, yet work was not stopped. Water continued to flow into ducts.
When Coe flagged the problem, no one knew how many had been contaminated
or how many tendons had corroded.

They would soon learn the answer: thousands. Vents had been leaking along
the entire length of the bridge.

Devil in the data

Caltrans officials began a lengthy study of the problem. While their
analysis found that the corrosion was minor, leading experts have
challenged the agency's methodology and conclusions.

Caltrans first examined 18 tendons by threading a borescope � a camera
attached to a flexible tube � inside ducts, according to the agency's
report. A few "worst case" examples that had been left ungrouted for 14
months were encrusted with rust. Several strands � twisted wire cables
that are bundled into tendons � were extracted for closer scrutiny.

Agency experts judged those strands "moderately" corroded. They showed a
buildup of rust that suggested the formation of pits. These are
indentations that form in corroding steel and precede cracking, the
rupture of wires, then strands and finally, entire tendons. If tendons
snap, a bridge might become unstable under the everyday strain of
thousands of cars and trucks, or in a large quake.

Eventually, Caltrans viewed about 1,600 of the more than 5,600 tendons in
the bridge. The agency said in its report that this represented almost 80
percent of those not yet grouted and therefore visible using borescope
cameras. Nearly half displayed minor rust, but just a fraction suffered
moderate corrosion and researchers found little salt.

A few samples extracted for lab tests by Caltrans and the Federal Highway
Administration revealed shallow pits and rare cracks.

Sag��s, the professor hired to review the report's approach, offered a
qualified blessing. "(B)ased on the information available to date," he
wrote, "the corrosion damage in the tendons with delayed grouting appears
to have had little impact on integrity."

Long-term effects, Sag��s said, would be similarly slight "if subsequent
grouting was performed promptly and properly," and ducts dried prior to
grouting as required by the contract.

Yet the construction record shows that Caltrans often ignored that advice.

Many tendons examined by Caltrans remained ungrouted in wet ducts months
after the agency completed its examinations. Nor did Caltrans use special
grout designed for reducing corrosion risks in wet ducts.

Many vents at the road surface were not properly sealed until at least
December 2006, six months after the problem was discovered. Five to nine
inches of rain fell locally during that period, depending on the
measurement location, so water and debris from the surface flowed into
ducts through the unsealed vents. Caltrans also failed to clear water from
the ducts prior to grouting in more than 250 cases after the June 2006
discovery of the problem, inspection diaries noted.

Sag��s cautioned in his assessment for Caltrans that "uncertainty remains"
because "direct inspection was not possible in most tendons in the
Eastbound bridge," referring to one of the span's two parallel roadways.

The report said that Caltrans almost exclusively tested tendons in the
westbound portion of the skyway structures because nearly all tendons in
the eastbound span had been encased in grout by the time the problem was
found.

Because exposures to water for tendons in each span were nearly identical,
Caltrans concluded, any corrosion in the untested eastbound span would be
no worse than that found in the westbound span, which had been given a
clean bill of health.

Yet the record shows that about 1,000 eastbound-span tendons still sat in
ungrouted ducts when Caltrans began to address the problem in June 2006.
Gordon said in his written response that Caltrans could not explain the
failure to examine those tendons without conducting additional research.

Also contrary to the agency's reporting, eastbound tendons were left
ungrouted 73 days longer, on average, than their westbound counterparts,
and had many more cases of extreme exposure. Nearly 90 percent of the more
than 500 tendons grouted at least a year after installation are in the
eastbound span.

Asked if further examinations should be made of the eastbound tendons,
Gordon wrote, "(A)s we maintain this bridge for the next century and a
half, we will continue to use the latest technology."

Rather than providing a final picture of corrosion, the report offered an
incomplete, misleading snapshot, independent experts said.

John Broomfield, a globally respected British consultant on corrosion of
steel within concrete, and recipient of the distinguished lectureship
award at this year's annual meeting of the U.S. Transportation Research
Board, called Caltrans' report "strongly challengeable."

"As Prof. Sag��s has pointed out in his comments," Broomfield said,
"obviously the conclusions of the study can't be validated if they are
based on incorrect information."

Experts said a few extra months of exposure would not necessarily cause
dramatically more corrosion as the corrosion rate is affected by the
presence of water, air and salt. Continuous exposure to all three factors
would damage tendons most quickly.

In the skyway, that rate varied, according to the Caltrans study.
"Moderate" corrosion occurred after 11 months of exposure in some tendons;
in others, equal corrosion took just over four months.

Broomfield and other experts said that some untested tendons had
undoubtedly corroded at the faster rate. Likewise, he said, the interval
between the corrosion inspections and final grouting � sometimes several
months � could have allowed corrosion to worsen in tendons that Caltrans
said were only moderately damaged.

Richard E. Weyers, emeritus professor of engineering at Virginia Tech and
an expert on corrosion of steel in concrete, said pitting and stress often
accelerate corrosion.

UC Berkeley's Devine, a metallurgist, examined the Caltrans study and
related materials. In interviews and a written analysis prepared for The
Bee, he said that Caltrans made fundamental testing and interpretation
errors that cast doubt on its conclusions.

Devine said Caltrans misinterpreted its own data, incorrectly ruling out
potentially harmful concentrations of sulfur and salt.

Caltrans also incorrectly assumed harmful cracks would be accompanied by
visible pitting, Devine said. Microscopic pits also can lead to deep
cracking, and can occur "in a wire that otherwise exhibits very little
visually observable corrosion."

The agency based its study largely on 1992 research and photographs by
corrosion expert Augusto S. Sason.

Sason tested tendons exposed to moist air with a sharply different basic
chemistry than the standing water in the skyway ducts. The skyway
conditions likely caused greater and different corrosion, according to
Devine.

"It points to the � inappropriateness of using Sason's photographs as way
of fingerprinting (skyway) corrosion," Devine said.

Caltrans relied on a test used by Sason to measure tensile strength �
stretching wires until they break � to rule out vulnerability to cracks
related to environmental conditions.

Yet, Sason noted that heavily corroded wires often pass strength tests,
but even wires with slight visible corrosion show clear signs of
microscopic pitting and cracks in bending fatigue tests. Caltrans neither
conducted bend tests nor mentioned Sason's fatigue findings.

"This was so ironic, that Caltrans could rely markedly, heavily on
(Sason's) report, and seemingly ignore the most important point being
made," Devine said.

"You can conduct tests to show that there's not a problem, or that it's
not as bad as it seems," Devine said. "They did the tests that were the
least sensitive to the presence of pits, and lo and behold, the test says
that there is no problem."

'War on Corrosion'

A few weeks after The Bee requested the corrosion study last year,
Caltrans posted a video to YouTube � "War on Corrosion." The video
described the agency's handling of the tendon matter as effective and
responsible.
Construction records reveal a more complex story.

Grout migrated between ducts through leaks at the joints of concrete
sections. Leaking grout blocked adjacent ducts, preventing the insertion
of tendons. So in each skyway section, tendons for all adjacent ducts had
to be installed and stretched before any could be grouted � leading to
long delays.

Thomas C. Janssen, a spokesman for the lead builder, Kiewit Corp.,
defended the company's approach.

"At Caltrans' request, we protected the tendons with Vapor Phase Inhibitor
Powder," he said in a written statement.

Records show that the builder applied the rust inhibitor in only about one
in four ducts � even though nearly all tendons experienced delays � and
almost never used the powder as required by the contract to ensure
effectiveness.

The video did not mention that about 1,100 ducts were so leaky that they
had to be grouted together in "families" of two to 21 ducts � an
unorthodox practice that shocked numerous experts.

Significant grout leaks and water intrusion used to crop up in the 1980s
and 1990s, said Michael Kreger, a professor of civil engineering at Purdue
University who has co-authored numerous scholarly papers on post-tensioned
bridges and corrosion. Even then, such serious problems were uncommon, he
said. He called the skyway experience "horribly unfortunate."

The combination of water in ducts and grout leaks between ducts, experts
said, tends to encourage air and water pockets � "voids" that can cause
further corrosion.

"It seems to me almost certain that you can't avoid large air pockets with
a duct-filling method of that kind," said Nick Buenfeld, who heads the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College
London, one of the world's top engineering schools. "If the joints between
the sections allow grout to flow through them, I would expect them also to
allow moisture and oxygen to flow through."

European bridges have failed where joints allowed water and salt to enter,
Buenfeld said. "Sea spray does carry chloride a long way," he said.

"Grouting, though delayed, provided the protection," for such joint leaks,
bridge spokesman Gordon said. Asked about the likelihood that grouting in
families caused voids and other problems, Gordon said he "cannot make that
speculation."

James Thompson, a teaching professor at Carnegie Mellon University,
Buenfeld and Broomfield, among others, blamed the problems on design or
construction errors.

TY Lin International, lead skyway designer, referred questions to
Caltrans.

Kiewit spokesman Janssen said the ducts "were not designed to be
watertight during construction," and that the company had worked according
to contract requirements.

Gordon said that the agency has not assigned blame for the tendon issues.

"(W)e remained focused on problem-solving," he wrote.

What's next?

Experts agreed that strong skyway foundations and piers, plus the factor
of safety � "10 percent extra tendons," according to Caltrans � make a
disastrous collapse of the bridge improbable, even in a devastating quake.
But if tendons are more corroded than Caltrans' study indicates, said
Hawkins of the University of Illinois, a massive temblor might render one
or more sections of the skyway unusable.

Another looming question, experts said, is whether taxpayers have
purchased the $6.4 billion bridge they were promised, or a structure that
will require costly repairs relatively soon.

"It's reasonable to suggest, strongly suggest, that a number of experts
who are completely independent, knowledgeable in these areas, sit down and
review what has been done," said Weyers, of Virginia Tech, "� and give
suggestions about what would need to be done."

Construction and testing doubts pose "a very large question" about the
span's long-term performance, said Merrill Walstad, a structural engineer
and technical adviser to the Post-Tensioning Institute, an industry
research group. He added: "The least that should be done is an
investigation."

Several experts said that radar or X-ray examinations might provide clues
about the state of the tendons. But tendon excavations might be warranted.

Broomfield suggested close review of bridge sections that experienced
extreme conditions: long grouting delays, widespread water contamination
and many ducts grouted together in families.

One expert contacted by The Bee said Caltrans deserves the benefit of any
doubts about the skyway.

The bridge contains "future ducts" � available to insert extra tendons to
boost capacity. Those ducts, said Maher Tadros, professor emeritus of
civil engineering at the University of Nebraska, reinforced his view "that
Caltrans, the designers and builders have followed the required standard
of care," because they offer the opportunity for a "belt and suspenders"
approach to structural integrity.

Asked if the future ducts could be used to compensate for possible
corrosion, Gordon said, "This bridge is built to serve the Bay Area for a
century and a half, and it is only prudent to provide opportunities to
enhance the bridge during that time."

Samuel I. Schwartz, chief executive of a New York engineering company and
former chief engineer for highways and bridges in New York City, said
Californians face disheartening questions about quality control for the
lifeline between Oakland and San Francisco.

"Based on the degree of corrosion, as an owner why should I accept this
job?" he said, given the increased potential for future problems that
might require expensive maintenance. "Does it mean the bridge's structural
elements would last 40 years instead of 150?"

Call The Bee's Charles Piller, (916) 321-1113. Follow him on Twitter
@cpiller. Dan Hill contributed to this report.


Showing 1-10 of 275 comments

law55
All I have to say is my tax dollars better not pay for an ounce of
repairs. They knew it was sloppy work yet they carried on...like a typical
state agency would! What? Do they think; this is FISCAL? Why is no one
able to speak up when they make a mistake? Why is it all re-active instead
of pro-active? Thank GOD I don't have to take this bridge and I pray for
all those who do. Document well my fellow citizen! Your family may need it
in court WHEN the bridge fails!

Like Reply
05/20/2013 03:58 PM 2 Likes Report Abuse

holmesmick1
Caltrans: The Great State Milking Machine..and thanks to the tax payers
those new gas taxes will help pay for some of the billions in
overruns..and expect more taxes and higher tolls in your future. To quote
our glorious leader : " **** and incompetence happens" they can laugh it
off because it's not their money.

Like Reply
05/20/2013 03:34 PM 1 Like Report Abuse

justbreathless
JUST LIKE OBAMA LETTING DEPARTMENTS DO WHAT THEY WANT and UNSUPERVISED.
so what good are both -- as both work - only after the fact.., if that...
AND HOW MANY PARTS WERE BOUGHT FROM CHINA -- remember that...

Like Reply
05/20/2013 01:37 PM 1 Like Report Abuse

WuiceJeasel
Loving prayers for the poor folks who will have no choice but to risk
their lives on this bridge on a daily basis.

Like Reply
05/20/2013 01:37 PM Report Abuse

David Wayne C
Call it the "TITANTIC BAY BRIDGE OF 2013"

Like Reply
05/20/2013 10:26 AM 3 Likes Report Abuse

law55
Did you know the Titanic would have stayed afloat had they used better
steel (at least I read about it)? They cut corners to save a buck and went
with a lesser grade. Lives are so much easier to replace than profit!
(says with tongue in cheek). But I think you know this already.

Like Reply
05/20/2013 04:06 PM in reply to David Wayne C 1 Like Report Abuse

David Wayne C
Lets called it the "TITANTIC BAY BRIDGE"

Like Reply
05/20/2013 10:25 AM 3 Likes Report Abuse

juggler65 , Mind your own business. Keep your hands to yourself.
Beginning more than two years before Coe's discovery, inspectors
frequently warned about water leaks and corrosion.

Two years to respond to warnings by inspectors. Yeah, that's about the
pace one would expect from Cal Trans.


Like Reply
05/20/2013 08:02 AM 7 Likes Report Abuse

machkarl
Can we just tear this down and start over with a simple concrete deck?

Like Reply
05/20/2013 07:42 AM 3 Likes Report Abuse

riverpaddler
After much thought, I propose we have a State of CA "Avoiding Caltrans
Hazards" Contest: Leave both bridges up, and see which one fails first.
In the meantime, we let drivers select which bridge they want to drive
over.

Like Reply



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Barack Obama, reelected by the dumbest voters in the history of the United
States of America.

Eric Holder, racist black murdering United States Attorney General, still
has his job.

Nancy Pelosi, Democrat criminal, accessory before and after the fact to
improper vetting of Barry Soetoro aka Barack Hussein Obama, a confirmed
felon using SSAN 042-68-4425, belonging to a dead man.

Obama ignored the brutal killing of an American diplomat in Benghazi, then
relieved American military officers who attempted to prevent said murder
in order to cover up his own ineptness.

Obama continues his goal of disarming America while ObamaCare increases
insurance premiums 200% and leaves millions without health care.

Obama helped bankrupt Illinois. Democrat run Chicago closes 54 public
schools.

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