As if the anti-smart-growth "aerial option" for Tysons Corner and the disgraceful no-bid, multi-billion-dollar, sweetheart deal to "Big Dig" Bechtel weren't bad enough,
now comes this story (note: Scott Monett of TysonsTunnel.org told me all about this a long time ago, so obviously people have known about it for a while, yet the project was approved regardless - brilliant!!!!).
Now Metro is being extended to Dulles. And the condition of those footings is at the center of a federal safety inquiry because of concerns that any bridge built on them could collapse if there was a structural failure.
At issue is whether enough testing has been done on the pilings within the pier foundations. Until federal officials intervened, Dulles Transit Partners, the contractor building the first 11.7 miles of the $5.2 billion, 23-mile Silver Line, resisted testing most of the foundations, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post through Freedom of Information Act requests and interviews.
"We have genuine, factual concerns about their engineering plan," said Peter M. Rogoff, the head of the Federal Transit Administration, which is conducting an investigation.
Dulles Transit Partners has done load-bearing tests on pilings in two foundations and has agreed as a result of the inquiry to test pilings in seven more, but the contractor has no plans to test pilings in two others, documents show.
Without load-bearing tests, there is no way to determine whether the pier foundations can bear the weight of the bridge and the trains running between East Falls Church and Wiehle Avenue in Reston.
In other words, enjoy your Metro ride to Dulles Airport, let us all know if you make it there in one piece! Seriously, though, this entire project needs to be investigated. Perhaps Attorney General Cuccinelli might consider doing so when he's not busy suing the federal government or working to turn Virginia into a theocracy? Just a thought.
