I feel that the title is misleading.
Caltrans faulted by practicing terrible project management.
If someone underbids the next contractor by $250 million on a job they've never done before, you're supposed to politely laugh them out of the room.
Edit: for the benefit of those now arriving, the title and link have been changed.
Having studied in China, and worked in construction, all I can say is that this smells, far and wide, like there was some kickback somewhere in this process. I'm guessing on the Chinese soil end of things. From first hand experience, I know it happens on American soil all the time as well, but, from what little I saw in 1999 the Chinese culture of kickback in China takes it to a whole new level.
Also, can somebody explain to me those flight prices? Spending over 10K on flights to Shanghai within a single month seems outrageous.
It seems like the author is trying to make the assertion that all sorts of poor decisions were made - it'd be helpful to have a comparison to other similar projects, in order to make that determination. Otherwise, these could be completely routine issues for all I know (as a layperson). If you took any software engineering project, and described it by detailing all the mistakes in isolation, it would look like a complete disaster.
I've never been involved in bridge contracts, but all the highway construction contracts I've seen have specified performance bonds sufficient to finish the project in case of problems. I thought this was a requirement for any project that gets federal money (which is effectively any highway project at all). It's surprising that an article this long wouldn't even mention whether the bonds proved sufficient, how much the insurer tried to weasel out of the bonds, whether the insurer insisted on hiring a new contractor, etc.
That this topic hasn't even come up, leads me to believe that the state inspectors have completely failed in their duties. With all due respect to Hanlon, the simplest explanation for such total failure is not "gosh they must be stupid!"
The article is focused on faulty management/supervision. It should've focused on HOW the contract went to the Chinese firm in the first place. I'm sure they build find cranes for ports but they never built a bridge.
Obviously I have no link to point to or solid proof but here's what someone told me. Hearsay it may be but I will just throw it out there.
Initially it looked like a Japanese company was going to get the contract. However after a Californian trade mission to China (headed by ex-Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger) returned, the bid went to the Chinese firm. I was told it was quite unexpected.
Not saying Arnold Schwarzenegger was somehow convinced otherwise but I think it's possible one of his advisors were convinced otherwise and than convinced Arnold Schwarzenegger to give the contract to a chinese firm.
Hopefully the truth will come out in a formal inquiry. Hopefully.
Love the pictures of the bridge. The scale is amazing. Wouldn't it be nice if these were projects we could be proud of?
It is a little hard to understand how serious it all really is. It sounds like inspections were quite rigorous. Past half way down the article, there's two pictures, one of the internals of a box girder, and right below it, a 10mm crack in a tack weld. I mean, the scale differential of the two images is amazing. I can't imagine cracks in the tack welds make a bit of difference in a bridge like that. The bridge looks incredible.
Totally off-topic, but did anybody else notice the chocolate-starfish graffiti on one of the beams pictured in the article?
Boy, it'd be great to know more about each commentator before reading their expert opinion on the subjects of project management, procurements, bridge-building, government agency function and anything else relevant to the topic.
>The California Department of Transportation agreed to contract the company known as ZPMC in 2006 because it had established a reputation as fast and cost-effective, offering savings of about $250 million compared to the competing bidder.
This is absolutely crazy. What kind of person hires a company to build a bridge that usually builds cranes? (A politician)
When I was still in college I met a Project Manager who was building a new building for my University. The project was going very wrong because they hired a residential building company to build a commercial building.
Dont force a square peg in a round hole. (No amount of money will help it fit)
>"Caltrans overrode bridge welding codes"
that is my favorite here. Sounds like poetry.
>"Tony Anziano, chief executive for toll-bridge work, made at least 64 visits to Shanghai, stayed in one of the city’s most luxurious hotels and spent more than $300,000 on travel during construction."
if tales of Chinese corruption and kickbacks is even a bit true (and knowing Russian corruption i tend to believe in Chinese too :) these $300K are juts unrecognizable under microscope peanuts compare to what was most probably transferred to some accounts on Cayman Islands and in some other peculiar jurisdictions.
Ok I have a very serious question that none seems to dress, so I must be missing something. Please I really want to be enlightened because I am puzzled by this.
I don't even buy a toaster without some kind of guarantee for the coming years and some kind of maintenance available.
Why doesn't the bridge contract have that?
Seems the fact that the company was Chinese is pretty irrelevant - and yet it's repeated over an over.
China is the new bogeyman.
"As delays dragged on, Caltrans approved paying the contractors an additional $6.5 million to boost efficiency and quality, and to catalog the work."
WTF... I know a lot of us here are contractors. Tell me the last time you got paid MORE because you weren't doing your job.
Original story -
http://www.sacbee.com/static/sinclair/sinclair.jquery/baybri...
It's a pet peeve of mine when it's really a story about a story.
about California's 40% of population have East Asian race affiliation and current voting system unfairly favors such non-uniform population distribution. Immigrants arn't merely confined to ironing your shirts and preparing dim sums, but they're taking over 'important' positions like elected officials.
most of such third-world nations don't have a grasp on essentials ideas for functioning, sustainable society (like transparency). It is not a surprise that a Chinese-ridden state picked some suspicious Chinese company for a multibillion dollar project, costing non-Chinese taxpayers $$$.
i see same thing from my company outsourcing lead development to an indian company
What a fiasco. This story just keeps getting bigger and bigger. So many lessons to be learned about a flawed bidding and construction process. And from what I see, it's immune to politics. No party can take the higher ground. Public sector graft and private sector lying, cheating and thieving, both need to be stopped and big, small government, or running government like a business doesn't seem to help. Instead, working towards an ethical and just society with clear and equitable consequences for all does seem to help. So in this case, follow the money, retrieve all that was gotten through ill gotten gains, and hand out jail sentences. As for the rest of us, we still have a bridge to deal with.