AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
People are already trying to blame China again for bad quality steel at the Salesforce Transit Center construction in San Francisco. I still hear people today blaming China for the bad bolts that broke on the new SF/Oakland Bay Bridge when they were made in the US. They found two major cracks on the main structural beams of this new $2 billion building. This is in downtown between the financial district and the freeway to the Bay Bridge for people to get to work and home causing a huge mess in traffic because it hangs over a street that's closed now.
Before transbay center beam cracked, 2 contractors already mired in litigation
Sep. 26, 2018 Updated: Sep. 26, 2018 10:45 p.m.
The engineering firm in charge of structural steel at the new $2.2 billion Transbay Transit Center sued the general contractor overseeing the entire project in May, claiming the job was compromised by construction documents that were “substantially defective and incomplete.”
In the lawsuit, Skanska USA Civil West, which in 2013 won a $189 million contract for the steel work, claimed that poor planning by general contractor Webcor/Obayashi led to significant cost overruns that the engineering company was not compensated for.
The lack of accurate information meant that Skanska and its subcontractors were unable to “plan and execute the work in such a way as to mitigate damages due to delays and inefficiencies,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is potentially significant because it could shed light on the transit center’s complicated and expensive steel superstructure, the dependability of which came into question this week when
While Skanska was in charge of the steel work, more than a dozen manufacturers were involved in making the 22,000 tons of structural steel assembled to build the transit center, which weighs as much as 111 Boeing 747 airplanes. The fabrication and installation of the project’s steel columns, beams and girders was completed in January 2016.
In a court filing, Webcor-Obayashi denied “generally and specifically each and every allegation.”
Sam Singer, a spokesman for the general contractor, called it a “par-for-the-course lawsuit” common in big public construction projects. He said the money Skanska believes was withheld was a result of the steel contractor missing key project deadlines.
He said Webcor “is pleased that the TJPA (Transbay Joint Powers Authority) has asked it to be part of the independent review team” brought in to look at the beam defects.
The beams in which cracks appeared were manufactured by Stockton-based Herrick Corp., which also provided steel for nearby towers like 181 Fremont, Salesforce Tower and Park Tower. Oregon Iron Works made girders and basket columns, while Vallejo-based XKT Engineering fabricated some of the transit center’s “seismic load resisting system.
The lawsuit alleges that “Webcor/Obayashi directed Skanska to do additional work outside the scope of the contract, for which the general contractor did not compensate Skanska.” The lawsuit also says Webcor/Obayashi “failed to respond in a complete, timely, and reasonable manner to requests.”
Over the past five years, escalating steel prices were a major reason the transit center’s budget ballooned from $1.6 billion to $2.2 billion. In 2013, the TJPA budgeted $145 million for the steel package, but when the contract was put out to bid, the one response was for $259 million. The TJPA put the contract on hold, eventually breaking it up into several smaller contracts that brought in combined bids of $206 million.
The showed up at the bottom of the two immense beams roughly 60 feet long that span Fremont Street. The beams are located above the bus deck but also help hold it in place.
Each beam is roughly 8 feet deep above the middle of the street, narrowing to about 5 feet above the sidewalk on either side. If one were viewed from the end, it would be shaped like a giant I, with slightly wider sections at the bottom and top.
The crack spotted by workers on Tuesday occurred at the bottom of the deepest point of the beam nearest to Mission Street. It runs the full 2.5 feet from side to side and 4 inches from bottom to top. The main section of the beam — the long stretch of the I, so to speak — was not affected.
The project required that all steel and iron be manufactured in the United States as part of the project’s federally mandated “buy American” regulations.
With so much steel required, the TJPA had to enlist suppliers and fabricators from 19 states to supply the project. Steel-related work accounts for a sizable portion of the estimated 8,000 jobs that have been created, directly and indirectly, by the transbay program to date, including more than 3,000 outside the Bay Area.
J.K. Dineen and John King are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers.
Before transbay center beam cracked, 2 contractors already mired in litigation
Sep. 26, 2018 Updated: Sep. 26, 2018 10:45 p.m.
The engineering firm in charge of structural steel at the new $2.2 billion Transbay Transit Center sued the general contractor overseeing the entire project in May, claiming the job was compromised by construction documents that were “substantially defective and incomplete.”
In the lawsuit, Skanska USA Civil West, which in 2013 won a $189 million contract for the steel work, claimed that poor planning by general contractor Webcor/Obayashi led to significant cost overruns that the engineering company was not compensated for.
The lack of accurate information meant that Skanska and its subcontractors were unable to “plan and execute the work in such a way as to mitigate damages due to delays and inefficiencies,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is potentially significant because it could shed light on the transit center’s complicated and expensive steel superstructure, the dependability of which came into question this week when
While Skanska was in charge of the steel work, more than a dozen manufacturers were involved in making the 22,000 tons of structural steel assembled to build the transit center, which weighs as much as 111 Boeing 747 airplanes. The fabrication and installation of the project’s steel columns, beams and girders was completed in January 2016.
In a court filing, Webcor-Obayashi denied “generally and specifically each and every allegation.”
Sam Singer, a spokesman for the general contractor, called it a “par-for-the-course lawsuit” common in big public construction projects. He said the money Skanska believes was withheld was a result of the steel contractor missing key project deadlines.
He said Webcor “is pleased that the TJPA (Transbay Joint Powers Authority) has asked it to be part of the independent review team” brought in to look at the beam defects.
The beams in which cracks appeared were manufactured by Stockton-based Herrick Corp., which also provided steel for nearby towers like 181 Fremont, Salesforce Tower and Park Tower. Oregon Iron Works made girders and basket columns, while Vallejo-based XKT Engineering fabricated some of the transit center’s “seismic load resisting system.
The lawsuit alleges that “Webcor/Obayashi directed Skanska to do additional work outside the scope of the contract, for which the general contractor did not compensate Skanska.” The lawsuit also says Webcor/Obayashi “failed to respond in a complete, timely, and reasonable manner to requests.”
Over the past five years, escalating steel prices were a major reason the transit center’s budget ballooned from $1.6 billion to $2.2 billion. In 2013, the TJPA budgeted $145 million for the steel package, but when the contract was put out to bid, the one response was for $259 million. The TJPA put the contract on hold, eventually breaking it up into several smaller contracts that brought in combined bids of $206 million.
The showed up at the bottom of the two immense beams roughly 60 feet long that span Fremont Street. The beams are located above the bus deck but also help hold it in place.
Each beam is roughly 8 feet deep above the middle of the street, narrowing to about 5 feet above the sidewalk on either side. If one were viewed from the end, it would be shaped like a giant I, with slightly wider sections at the bottom and top.
The crack spotted by workers on Tuesday occurred at the bottom of the deepest point of the beam nearest to Mission Street. It runs the full 2.5 feet from side to side and 4 inches from bottom to top. The main section of the beam — the long stretch of the I, so to speak — was not affected.
The project required that all steel and iron be manufactured in the United States as part of the project’s federally mandated “buy American” regulations.
With so much steel required, the TJPA had to enlist suppliers and fabricators from 19 states to supply the project. Steel-related work accounts for a sizable portion of the estimated 8,000 jobs that have been created, directly and indirectly, by the transbay program to date, including more than 3,000 outside the Bay Area.
J.K. Dineen and John King are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers.
