Fraud Awareness ConferenceFEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

Corey Walker

Office of Program Management

Sound Transit Steel Casing Product Substitution Review

Fraud Awareness ConferenceFEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

Seattle Light Rail Project

15.6 Miles from Downtown to Airport13 stations35 Light Rail VehiclesTotal Cost $2.7 BillionFTA Share $500 MillionFFGA awarded 2003Opened to S. 154th St July 2009Airport Station Opened December 2009

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Project Map

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Tukwila Freeway Route

Approximately 4.9 miles of guideway87% elevated187 columns support the elevated guidewayColumns up to 80 feet highThree types of footings used depending on

height and soil type

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Elevated Guideway

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Construction of Guideway

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Steel Casings on Site

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Casing Installation

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Foundation Ready for Concrete

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Foundation Casings

Prevent shaft from collapsing during construction

Provide additional shear strength to resist earthquake forces

Have little effect on ability of column to support the weight of trains and guideway (not counted on in design)

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Fraud Awareness ConferenceFEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

Product Substitution

Sound Transit (ST) specified 50,000 psi (50 ksi) steel

Subcontractor provided 36,000 psi (36 ksi) steelST issued a Non-Conformance reportSubcontractor provided letter indicating that it

was 50 ksi steelLetter was found to be falsified

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ST Response

Designers calculated strength of columns with 36 ksi steel

Columns still provided necessary strength with a reduced factor of safety

Concluded that no additional measures were required to ensure safety

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FTA Oversight

FTA Project Management Oversight Consultant (PMOC) was on project since it began

Two on-site staff, task order manager and technical expert

Reviewed ST Construction Management and Quality Assurance procedures

Visited construction sites weekly

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PMOC Actions

PMOC Confirmed ST construction managers had issued a Non-Conformance report

Checked ST engineers calculations and verified conclusions

Performed independent analysis to ensure structure was safe

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PMOC Analysis

Brought in structural engineering specialist to perform analysis

Made computer model of columns, shafts, casings and foundations with the 36 ksi steel

Ran computer simulation of how the structure would fail when stressed to the point of failure

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Model Results

Columns fail outside of the areas surrounded by the casings

The casings are not the part of the structure that would fail during an earthquake

Therefore, the use of weaker steel in the casings does not impact the ability of the structure to resist the design earthquake

In other words, the safety of the structure is not compromised

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Fraud Awareness ConferenceFEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

FTA Costs

Expert was not part of PMOC team assigned to monitor project

Charged 202 hours to FTA Flew from New York to Seattle to review

documents, visit siteTotal cost was $30,523Appleby reimbursed FTA for costs of review

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