Oversight problems revealed in DOT concrete review
11:00 AM Fri, Jun 06, 2008 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE -- An internal review of the Department of Transportation made public today depicts managers who didn't manage, plans that weren't followed or even distributed to the people who were supposed to follow them and inspections that were done poorly or not at all on concrete for its flagship project, the relocation of Route 195. The review, commissioned by former Transportation Director Jerome F. Williams and made public today, by his replacement, Michael P. Lewis, is the department's attempt to get to the bottom of the concrete inspection failures that cost the state $3.1 million in federal highway aid in February. In releasing the review, Lewis said that the vast majority of the concrete in the project was tested, that all of it proved to be strong enough to do the job and that the highway, partially open since November, is safe. He said that he is already making organizational changes at the DOT and training employees in response to the findings. Two engineers, one who was in charge of materials testing, Mark Felag, and the other supervising the Route 195 project, James Caroselli, had already been transferred within the department. Lewis said he has no immediate plans to replace anybody else. The review describes management failures throughout the DOT's construction hierarchy that contributed to its failure to test the concrete going into in dozens of structures -- piers, foundations and other structural elements -- that are part of its flagship project. That failure to test and otherwise assure quality concrete, which violated industry standards and the DOT's own regulations, lead to a months-long investigation by the Federal Highway Administration and its decision in February to declare the untested concrete ineligible for the normal 80 percent federal reimbursement. That dumps $3.1 million in costs that would have been paid by the federal government onto the state. 
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Transferred? Why not fired. In any normal job or any normal state people who fail at their jobs are terminated, not allowed to continue working towards their tax-payer funded pension elsewhere.
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Follow the money.............................
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If the knuckleheads in this state give Mike Lewis a chance he will fix the DOT. He cleaned up the big dig and it may have issues but it sure has made traveling in Boston a hell of a lot better. All of the hullabaloo about a ramp closing this week is something that was succesfully done in Boston by Mike and his team. The Gov made a good choice. Lets wait and see maybe this guy can fix things
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Those deemed responsible and found to not being doing their jobs were merely transferred within the Transportation Department? Only in RI! Was their pay even cut? The concrete may be safe now, but how much sooner is it going to have to be replaced at taxpayer expense (not to mention lane closings and detours)? And, no doubt the same construction company guilty of using substandard concrete will probably be hired to replace it prematurely, enriching themselves even further at the expense of RI taxpayers. Maybe Plexus can be hired to oversee the whole affair? Where's the accountability in any of this?
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Lets recap. DOT didn't test the concrete and cost the taxpayers 3.1 million. They also didn't apply the correct amount of zinc paint to the IWAY costing the taxpayers additional monies. Now we here that Shire Corp that handles other major DOT jobs had the passwords to the DOT computer system and allegedly used that information to incur cost overruns to their favor. Amazingly the computer system they 'hacked' into was set up by Plexus Corp that was part of a previous story as the owner(s) were related to the previous DOT director/big wig.
Talk about an inside job here, all we need is someone to connect the dots on this one. Plexus gets high paying contract from director of DOT, Shire gets passwords from this "secure" system and incurs million dollar cost overruns. Please, someone in the Journal or the Feds follow this money trail. I think Robert Corrente needs help as DOT was/is likely another corrupt unit in our state.
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The concrete is safe? I bet that is what they said about the tiles at the Big Dig before they fell and killed a woman. Hopefully this is not a repeat of that. We as a state should not have to worry about this every time we cross the I-Way.
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Follow the money, follow the money. After all this is Rhode Island.
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does any of this really surprise anyone?? it certainly doesn't surprise me.
did anyone notice that the employees involved were "transferred" with the DOT and not fired? this is certainly inconsistent with the private sector. the entire department needs a purge.
if this isn't bad enough, look at what 's going on with the barrington bridge and the shire corporation, where the DOTs records were hacked to deliberately delay the construction.
just business as usual in rhode island - rip off the taxpayer.
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No wonder the residents leaving R.I. for other States is so high. Get out while you can, others have. You can do it, I did...
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