Close enough for government work.

I like that the engineer responsible for faking the tests is still employed by Caltrans. He was merely disciplined, which likely means he spent a week at home on paid leave and had to promise not to do it again.

I drive over this bridge twice a day, so I know a thing about crumbling bridges. I especially like the part of the article where it talks about chunks of falling concrete. If Cal Trans was sugar-coating things, then I'm real curious about how bad it really is.

The contractor they had doing inspections on the pieces of the new Bay Bridge being produced in China was failing too many pieces, so Caltrans replaced them with one that would keep the project on schedule.

And now the installation inspector is faking reports.


It's a good thing that bridge isn't located in an earthquake prone area

Give the guy a break, he was busy thinking about some sweet 17 year old titties and the trouble they got him into. My focus would be shot too.

One Bad Apple: But don't you dare badmouth government employee unions

Now where in the heck does that fit into anything? Unions... SOSHLIZMZ!!

Go away, troll.

Made in China?! Haven't we learned anything?!

One Bad Apple: special20: One Bad Apple: But don't you dare badmouth government employee unions

Now where in the heck does that fit into anything? Unions... SOSHLIZMZ!!

Go away, troll.

It has little to do with socialism and every thing to do with retaining lousy employees for the sake of padding union dues. Take your spelling teacher for example.

Your mom? Sure, she's not that busy.

My favorite part of CalTrans is where they shut down a section or roadway, and then proceed to do nothing with it for 2-3 years.

And before you say "Well, they're working on it when you aren't there" this happened with a stretch near my home. They weren't working on it during the day, morning, or evening. They just farked up traffic for a couple years before deciding to actually begin the work. Once they started, work was done in just a few months, but there was no reason to shut those lanes down ahead of time.

And from what I've heard from other people its their standard operating procedure.

ShawnDoc: My favorite part of CalTrans is where they shut down a section or roadway, and then proceed to do nothing with it for 2-3 years.

And before you say "Well, they're working on it when you aren't there" this happened with a stretch near my home. They weren't working on it during the day, morning, or evening. They just farked up traffic for a couple years before deciding to actually begin the work. Once they started, work was done in just a few months, but there was no reason to shut those lanes down ahead of time.

And from what I've heard from other people its their standard operating procedure.

Weird. I've lived in California for quite a few decades and have never seen anything like that. What project was that?

There must be different sectors of CalTrans. Or departments, whatever. The one down in So Cal is actually very good and works like gangbusters whenever they have to shut down the freeways. They're doing expansions on the 405/22 interchange by my house, and while the traffic has been bad, the construction is proceeding apace and without too much horribleness.

I remember seeing a program a while back, not on engineering but on education, which might be relevant here. It was an engineer discussing how "consensus building" and "but I TRIED" was going to have repercussions down the road: He said that having a bunch of kids decide that their calculations were close enough might make everyone feel good, but do you really want an architect or engineer deciding that getting his calculations down to within an inch was 'close enough" and calling it a day? Or in this case, deciding that the readings matched most of the time, and he didn't need to check any further?

Mr Rusty Shackleford: Weird. I've lived in California for quite a few decades and have never seen anything like that. What project was that?

22 near Garden Grove/Anaheim.

hasty ambush: Administrative leave? Why not fired?



FIRED. and his boss. (new window)

Gyrfalcon: There must be different sectors of CalTrans. Or departments, whatever. The one down in So Cal is actually very good and works like gangbusters whenever they have to shut down the freeways. They're doing expansions on the 405/22 interchange by my house, and while the traffic has been bad, the construction is proceeding apace and without too much horribleness.


100% agree.

I go through there every day. I actually emailed the directors or the two Cal Trans districts to compliment them on their work so far. I also thanked them for smoothing the bumps on the 110 south of the 405 and the excellent job they did repaving the 405 by Costa Mesa. They both replied thanking me for the nice note.

ShawnDoc: Mr Rusty Shackleford: Weird. I've lived in California for quite a few decades and have never seen anything like that. What project was that?

22 near Garden Grove/Anaheim.

Ugh! I remember that shiat! Freaking zig-zagging lanes all over the place and unable to see the lane dividers during sunrise and sunset (depending on which direction you were heading)

/Honorable mention: The 55/405 carpool connector/dumpramp at JWA.
//2nd honorable mention: The El Toro Y expansion project
///3rd honorable mention: The 91/57 carpool connector (went to CSUF for 3 years before they finished it)
////Which one of these had the 2-year extension because they had to restart from scratch because of some kind of concrete density problem?
//Fark you CalTrans!!!!

MrEricSir: And remember, even though they're spending $12 billion (plus interest) to build one segment of a bridge, that's a great deal -- but spending $90 billion to build a high-speed public transit that covers the entire state is OMG OUTRAGE!!!111

the bolded part - not really. Sac to LA via SF (or maybe all the way to SD). Northern and Central can suck it. :)

doofusgumby: hasty ambush: Administrative leave? Why not fired?

[img1.fark.net image 54x11]

FIRED. and his boss. (new window)

Had to laugh:

while Liebich was fired for "misusing state materials."

... does looking at Fark during breaktime count as misusing state materials..? Uhhh... well, least I ain't CalTrans... _{if I got fired because of Fark I'd laugh my arse off all the way to the unemployment line; site ain't blocked so I can only assume it's cool. -IT, don't you take that as a cue neither.}

On another note - holy fark, this guy was caught falsifying inspection records on numerous occasions prior to this? How the fark did he still have a JOB? Pretty sure that if one of our bridge inspectors forgot to even dot an "i" or cross a "t" they'd be reprimanded hardcore, and falsifying state documents is flat out illegal here; that's a firin' AND an arrestin'. Putting Joe Q. Public at risk is just farking taboo, the primary goals is to keep the traffic flowing while ensuring public safety. Heck, CalTrans pioneered a lot of pedestrian-friendly safety-intensive road and intersection designs, 'Complete Streets' specifically - so it's not like they're not focused on safety. I just don't get it. If you don't like your job, transfer. Quit. Don't put the public at risk because you're unhappy or just outright lazy.

/stickler for these things
//also terrified of bridges
///when one of your dept's bridge inspectors says "Yeaahh don't drive over X bridge", you don't drive over that farking bridge