Ongoing Calgarians complaining about pedestrian bridges thread

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by jar_e

As per a Global News alert:

As of 7 minutes ago

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ng-delays.html

However, the City of Calgary said late Friday that its opening had been pushed back because of welds that don't meet quality standards.
Spot inspections done in recent days have revealed that welds made in the subassemblies constructed in Spain are in non-conformance, the city said in a news release.

So glad that we built this thing in Spain because only they could build the sub assemblies properly.

[RW99]

I was on board with the bridge, but not anymore. It's just getting silly now.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

As of 7 minutes ago

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...ng-delays.html

So glad that we built this thing in Spain because only they could build the sub assemblies properly.

Wait, what? They are just now doing spot checks of welds on the structural steel?

WTF? Did they not order non-destructive testing and inspections of all the welds and have them reviewed before releasing the product for shipping? Is this a case of ship now, review later to meet a deadline (Pretty dumb of Graham if so)? Or is it unfortunately a case of falsifying documents to pass muster (god I hope not, return to sender if that's the case).

Graham has some 'splainin' to do. With something this expensive, I would have sent an inspector over to Spain during fab and shipping inspection.

Absurd to be checking welds at this stage of the game. Calgary, we now have a farce on our hands. Just remember, don't blame City of Calgary on this one... sounds like Graham and the sub-contractors.

[burn_this_city]

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Wait, what? They are just now doing spot checks of welds on the structural steel?

WTF? Did they not order non-destructive testing and inspections of all the welds and have them reviewed before releasing the product for shipping? Is this a case of ship now, review later to meet a deadline (Pretty dumb of Graham if so)? Or is it unfortunately a case of falsifying documents to pass muster (god I hope not, return to sender if that's the case).

Graham has some 'splainin' to do. With something this expensive, I would have sent an inspector over to Spain during fab and shipping inspection.

Absurd to be checking welds at this stage of the game. Calgary, we now have a farce on our hands. Just remember, don't blame City of Calgary on this one... sounds like Graham and the sub-contractors.

Depends on the nature of the contract, Graham may well have only been involved with final assembly.

[MrMastodonFarm]

As a casual follower of the bridge, who likes the look of it, and is glad Calgary is doing something outside the realm of boring. Who cares... it's going to be there for a long time, and I couldn't give two craps if it's there in 2011, or 2012.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

As a casual follower of the bridge, who likes the look of it, and is glad Calgary is doing something outside the realm of boring. Who cares... it's going to be there for a long time, and I couldn't give two craps if it's there in 2011, or 2012.

The problem is if the delay increases cost.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Depends on the nature of the contract, Graham may well have only been involved with final assembly.

Article states Graham selected and hired the sub-contractor in Spain. They would normally carry responsibility as well.

Who knows, perhaps the local inspector hired by the city is just anal. Or there's a mixup to what standard(s) the welds were to meet. Ah the fun of quality control.

[burn_this_city]

Sounds like Graham should be on the hook for the deficiencies.

[Jedi Ninja]

Has anyone been watching the progress of the bridge closely? I saw the bridge today for the first time since last fall and it didn't seem to me like there'd been any progress at all. Are they still actually working on it, or is it currently stalled for contract/legal/engineering reasons?

[BlackArcher101]

They were apparently working on it under tarps. I'm guessing now that a major deficiency has been claimed, work will stop temporarily until the non-conformance is investigated and resulting action is decided upon.

[worth]

There's no way that anyone ships massive pieces from a factory without doing non destructive testing like magnetic particle inspection. The pieces were painted. The NDT would most likely have been done before paint in order to fix any welds. It's ridiculous to think that they wouldn't have done that.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by worth

There's no way that anyone ships massive pieces from a factory without doing non destructive testing like magnetic particle inspection. The pieces were painted. The NDT would most likely have been done before paint in order to fix any welds. It's ridiculous to think that they wouldn't have done that.

True, but I wouldn't hold it against some companys to get around it. Still happens to this day, that's why there are 3rd party inspections.

Another scenario... possible shipping damage not found earlier? Cold weather metal contraction problems?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

True, but I wouldn't hold it against some companys to get around it. Still happens to this day, that's why there are 3rd party inspections.

Another scenario... possible shipping damage not found earlier? Cold weather metal contraction problems?

Not to be a #######, but if the bridge has cold weather contraction problems that cause the welds to fault then its the wrong design for a city where the temperature drops to minus 30.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Not to be a #######, but if the bridge has cold weather contraction problems that cause the welds to fault then its the wrong design for a city where the temperature drops to minus 30.

Of course. They'd have to be pretty crappy welds for that to happen. But a simple error on a few of them and cold brittle temps while moving the bridge span could very well cause cracking.

[mykalberta]

So long as the city doesnt have to pay 1 cent more than whats another year + time frame for a bridge that wasnt needed in the first place.

Serves them right for thinking Spain would get the job done right. The only Euros you trust with manual labor are the Germans.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by Jedi Ninja

Has anyone been watching the progress of the bridge closely? I saw the bridge today for the first time since last fall and it didn't seem to me like there'd been any progress at all. Are they still actually working on it, or is it currently stalled for contract/legal/engineering reasons?

I drive by it quite often and its hard to say. They've had a large section tarped for probably close to 8-12 months now, but you can't see what they've done inside. That original tarping sure hasn't moved or increased though.

[Barnes]

In other bridge news, the St Patricks island bridge design was approved today. $20MM and designed by a Frenchman. Oh the humanity.

[You Need a Thneed]

To restate:

The Peace Bridge is being built under a fixed price contract. The only way more money gets paid out is to change the scope of work. Improper welds is not a change in the scope of work.

This project will not and cannot cost taxpayers more money by having delays.

[Shazam]

Oh, there's ways for a contractor to get more money...

Fungible... fungible... fungible...