Bungling Bridge Building in Texas

SCANALYZER Context
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Here is the “Harbor Bridge Project Update - Aug. 4, 2022” from the Texas Department of Transportation, which links to this 2022-07-15 letter [PDF] to the contractor suspending work on the bridge.

As explained in the Notice of Nonconforming Work that TxDOT delivered to FDLLC on April 29, 2022, International Bridge Technologies (“IBT”) independently concluded that there are significant design flaws that raise serious concerns about the safety of the New Harbor Bridge. Although IBT presented numerous technical findings and observations that must be addressed, the five primary areas of concern are: (1) inadequate capacity of the pylon drilled shafts, (2) deficiencies in footing caps that led IBT to report that the bridge would collapse under certain load conditions, (3) delta frame design defects, primarily related to the connections between the delta frames and the adjacent precast box units, (4) significant uplift at the intermediate piers, and (5) excessive torsion and other stresses related to crane placement during construction.

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That does not sound like flaws in “bridge building”. That sounds like flaws in “bridge design”. Presumably, Texas bureaucrats either specified the design or approved the design. And if Texas bureaucrats failed to do that – or at least to have the detailed design independently reviewed – then heads should roll in the bureaucracy.

Chances of the true guilty parties being held responsible – negligible!
Chances of lawyers getting rich off of interminable litigation – high!
Chances of Texas taxpayers getting a useable bridge – modest.

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Wondering what the woke and diversity factor is, in the entities involved in this cluster (redacted).

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Another story:

In the old days, the quality mattered more than the cost:

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