Criminal Charges Threaten Belize Contractor Bulldozing Mayan Ruins For Rip Rap

A highway contractor in northern Belize who chose to destroy a 2,300 year old Mayan ceremonial pyramid located in a privately owned sugar cane field, and use the decimated stone for rip rap on the highway project could face criminal prosecution under the laws of Belize protecting pre-Hispanic cultural ruins. The hundred foot tall pyramid complex at Nohmul, in northern Belize, is a well known archaeological site, and according to Jamie Awe, head of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, could not possibly have been mistaken by the contractor as a naturally occurring gravel mound. "These guys knew this was an ancient structure. It's just bloody laziness," Awe said of the desecration. "It's a feeling of incredible disbelief because of the ignorance and the insensitivity ... Why can't these people just go and quarry somewhere that has no cultural significance? It's mind-boggling."

Tulane University Anthropology professor Francisco Estrada-Belli, complains that the desecration of Mayan religious sites for construction material is a daily occurrence in Belize. "The only way to stop it is by showing that it is a major crime and people can and will go to jail for it," according to Estrada-Belli. Tension between the infrastructure construction needs of emerging modern societies and respect for ancient cultural heritage requires government vigilance which often is not supported by the requisite level of resources devoted to enforcement of historical preservation efforts.

San Joaquin Delta Water Project To Cost $14 Billion, Disrupt Farming

San Joaquin Delta vineyard and orchard owners are facing condemnation of their most fertile land and disruption of their carefully crafted soil drainage systems should Governor Jerry Brown push through his proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan, including twin 44 foot diameter, 35 mile long fresh water aqueduct tunnels and related industrial infrastructure, landfills and reservoirs costing an estimated $14 billion. The proposal, seven years in the planning stage, is the governor's effort to resolve tension between the residents of the ecologically stressed delta, and the fresh water demand of 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland elsewhere in the state.

The delta's picturesque thousand miles of waterways surrounding 70 islands, dotted with vineyards and orchards, some of which have been owned by the same families for over 160 years, is threatened under the planned condemnation of 1,000 acres of farmland for inundation as a reservoir, another 610 acres for excavation as a borrow pit, and various locations for permanent disposal sites for 27 million tons of tunnel muck storage to be spread 6 feet deep across a total of 717 acres of the nation's most fertile agricultural property.

In addition, delta residents and the native wildlife inhabiting the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge could be subjected to the noise and vibration from 8,400 pile driving hammer strikes per day for a period of four months or more during landfill construction for the project. Delta landowners have been unable to market their real estate to anyone since the project's planning was launched seven years ago, because of their legal obligation to disclose to prospective purchasers the threatened condemnation of their land. Some have already become involved in court proceedings intended to delay or prevent the issuance of temporary entry permits so project planners could bore out soil samples for analysis in the project planning process. 

Legal proceedings respecting condemnation of the properties ultimately destined to be within the project's planned footprint could add years to the proposed project's timeline, and billions to its ultimate cost to taxpayers and water ratepayers. 

Bay Bridge Troubles Halt Fundraising For Opening Gala

Further delays in decision making about the date for opening of the new Oakland to San Francisco Bay Bridge have put a halt to fundraising efforts for the planned Labor Day opening festivities on the span. Final decisions regarding the scheduled opening have brought fundraising efforts for the ceremonial opening to a stop until Caltrans decides later this month whether or not the project will be safe for traffic by the Labor Day deadline. Failed seismic support bolts, cracked welds, and problems with structural concrete testing on the bridge's foundation may result in the need for up to $10 million in repairs to the already over budget $6.4 billion construction project.

Despite the postponement of the decision regarding the opening date, it seems unlikely repairs could be completed in time for a Labor Day opening to auto and truck traffic. Bridge officials have already submitted a written request for the Federal highway Administration to initiate an independent engineering review of the proposed repairs. The project is already years behind schedule and billions over budget. Bridge engineers hawe just begun saltwater corrosion testing of a sample of the seismic bolts, and the results of those test are expected to be released at a special May 29 meeting of the California Transportation Commission, when the final determination about the opening date is also supposed to be released. California's Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee has already punted the final decision about when the span will open to traffic to Governor Jerry Brown.

Toll Bridge Program Manager Tony Anziano acknowledges that "We are pretty confident that we don't have an immediate failure issue with these bolts, but we want to have a strong level of confidence over the long term." Nevertheless, Anziano doesn't want to have the fate of the opening gala and attendant fundraising efforts in his own hands.

Inappropriate Galvanizing Likely Led To Bay Bridge Bolt Failures

Potential significant delays in the scheduled Labor Day opening of the replacement for the San Francisco to Oakland Bay Bridge - replacing the span which failed, killing one motorist, 23 years ago during the magnitude 7.1 Loma Prieta earthquake -  could be the result of a flawed decision by CALTRANS engineers to call for galvanizing of the 288 three inch diameter high strength A354 BD steel anchor bolts connecting the bridge deck with its shear keys, bearings and columns, according to preliminary information regarding a soon to be released failure analysis of the 96 bolts produced for the project in 2008. An additional 192 bolts of the same type made in 2010 are also under review.

ASTM International has warned for decades against galvanizing A354 BD grade high strength steel fasteners, concluding that "research on bolts of similar material and manufacture indicates that hydrogen stress cracking or stress cracking corrosion may occur on hot dip galvanized Grade BD bolts." One bolt maker - Portland Bolt and Manufacturing - actually declined to submit a bid on the Bay Bridge project because of the CALTRANS specification calling for galvanized BD grade bolts. According to Dave McKinnon, Portland Bolt's quality assurance director, "We won't galvanize A354 BD bolts for any reason. We've chosen to take ASTM's warning as more of an absolute." McKinnon is a member of ASTM's fastener standards committee.

Galvanizing, a relatively cheap and long lasting anti-corrosive treatment for steel, is prohibited on BD grade bolts by CALTRANS' own bridge design manual. The CALTRANS engineers responsible for the galvanizing specification on the Bay Bridge have not yet explained why they elected to go against the prohibition of their own procedures in designing the new Bay Bridge. Thirty two of the 96 bolts produced for the project in 2008 - each 17 to 24 feet long - snapped apart while iron workers were tightening them during construction last March. Intensive testing of the 192 fasteners from the same supplier produced in 2010 is also underway.

A report expected to be released Wednesday, May 8, 2013, should identify the cost, methodology and schedule for repair of the bolt failures, the decision whether to replace the 192 galvanized bolts produced in 2010, and any change in the scheduled opening of Bay Bridge. The incidence of failure by one in every three of the galvanized bolts produced in 2008 has weakened public confidence in the often touted earthquake stability of the new bridge structure.

Chicago Contractor Still Has "The Right Stuff"

Chicago based Walsh Construction showed over the last nine days that it still has the right stuff, despite the declining fortunes of the Chicago and Illinois construction economies. Walsh/II in One joint venture will apparently complete the complex, waterborne reconstruction of the bilevel Wells Street twin leaf bascule road and rail bridge across the Chicago River within the nine day schedule allowed, so the bridge can reopen to both auto and CTA rail traffic for tomorrow morning's rush hour commute.  With a minimum of interference to road, rail and river traffic, using twelve hour work shifts for nine straight days, the contractor has worked with the Chicago Transit Authority and Chicago's Department of Transportation to complete replacement of the bridge, last rebuilt in 1922. Wells Street, Chicago's busiest bridge, serves 12,000 cars and trucks, and 70,000 CTA bus and rail commuters every weekday.

The only other bilevel road and rail bascule bridge of its kind, crossing the Chicago River at Lake Street, was replaced in 1996, and that project took 12 months to complete. Kudos to the Chicago based Walsh brothers, Dan and Matt, for managing to complete this essential infrastructure project in 97.5% less time. Chicago's construction market supports some of the world's best!

Both Sides Seem To Expect A Court Battle Over Detroit Bridge Construction

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder wants a new international bridge between Detroit and Windsor, despite failure of the Michigan legislature to pass a bill funding the project. Grosse Pointe billionaire Manuel Moroun wants any new span across the Detroit River to be part of his current monopoly on bridge traffic and toll collections, and has spent $1.6 million just this year lobbying against Governor Snyder’s plans for the New International Trade Crossing. Governor Snyder has enlisted the Canadian national government as an ally in contracting for construction of his planned new bridge, while Moroun mounts a petition drive to add to November’s ballot an amendment to the Michigan Constitution prohibiting Governor Snyder’s project without voter approval in a referendum. Both sides have carefully worded their initiatives with an eye on a future court battle involving Article 1 Section 10 of the United States Constitution.

Moroun’s ballot initiative would require referendum approval of any international bridge “which is not open to the public and serving traffic as of January 1, 2012.” The intergovernmental agreement signed last Friday between Michigan and Canada for construction of the New International Trade Crossing says, on the other hand, “Any reference to any Michigan Law … shall be deemed to be reference to such Law … in effect as of the date the Michigan Party became a Party…” Since the international agreement is now signed, that language is intended to foreclose a November ballot initiative seeking to render the agreement unenforceable.

Now to the United States Constitution. Article 1 Section 10 of that document provides that “No state shall … pass … any law impairing the obligation of contracts.” Whoa, why is that even in there? Well after the revolutionary war, during the time the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation before ratification of the current Constitution, several states were in the habit of adopting legislation freeing powerful citizens of their debt obligations to people and governments who were on the “wrong” side of that war. Recognizing that such behavior would inhibit the new nation's full participation in international trade, the founding fathers inserted the “contract clause” into Article 1 Section 10 of their new Constitution, and there it remains to this day.

Mr. Moroun and his private bridge monopoly are quite likely to lose this battle, even if his ballot initiative should pass. The government of Canada now has a contract with State of Michigan, executed under Governor Snyder’s existing authority to make agreements for international cooperation, for construction and operation of the bridge. Article 1 Section 10 of the U. S. Constitution now prohibits Michigan from enacting any law – including an amendment to the Michigan Constitution – impairing the obligation of that contract.

In an effort to counter the U. S. Constitutional argument, Moroun has already hired Wayne State University law professor Robert Sedler as a consultant to plant a law review article arguing his side of the issue. Gubernatorial spokesperson Sara Wurfel has already announced the State of Michigan position that an amendment to the Michigan Constitution passed in November could not undo a contract signed in June.

While an ordinary court dispute of this nature could take years to wind its way to the U. S. Supreme Court, this one involves the government of Canada, and could have the U. S. Supreme Court as its very first stop, should the State of Michigan or the Canadians elect to send it directly there in the event Moroun’s ballot initiative succeeds. The U. S. Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases “between a State, … and foreign States…”

There are even more defenses against Moroun and his allies in the Michigan/Canada agreement. Canada is paying for the customs plaza on the Canadian side of the river, and the U. S. federal government is paying for construction of the customs plaza on the American side. Canada is fronting the full cost of construction of the bridge, and collecting the Michigan share of that cost from Michigan’s share of auto and truck tolls, all of which will be collected on the Canadian side of the bridge. If Moroun loses his ballot initiative, or loses in the U. S. Supreme Court, there aren’t any other points of attack for him and his allies, and the U. S. Constitution doesn’t bode very well for the Moroun monopoly. In fact, the more design and construction contracts for the project which get signed before initiation of any court battle, the worse it looks for the billionaire.

Meanwhile, going forward with the bridge construction project will put a lot of Canadian and American skilled tradespeople back to work. The Ann Arbor Center for Automotive Research released a study concurrently with the signing of the international agreement which projects that the $2 billion project could put 6,000 American tradespeople to work in each of the first two years, and 5,100 in the third and fourth years. Another 6,600 jobs would be leveraged in the United States each of the four years due to freeing up of $2.2 billion in federal road funds for other Michigan located projects since the Canadians are fronting Michigan’s $550 million share of bridge construction costs.an additional 1,400 permanent American jobs would be created for operation of the bridge. Finally, the study projects, 6,800 permanent American private sector jobs will be created by new economic activity in the area of the new bridge and as a result of enhancement of the $70 billion annual cross-border trade flowing between Detroit and Windsor. At the very top of this employment totem pole should be about 125 Wayne County ironworkers earning $58/per hour. Canada expects its side of the river to supply rebar and steel plate for the bridge construction, while American steel mills will provide structural members.

Though Moroun and his political allies will undoubtedly continue their fierce opposition to the project in court and at the ballot box, Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger seems to be throwing in the towel. “It appears Governor Snyder’s plan does not involve any action by the Legislature, so it seems he has found a way to accomplish his goal of a new bridge while addressing our chief concern of protecting taxpayers,” the Marshall, Michigan Republican said in a prepared statement.

Virginia’s Construction Budget Issues Provoke State Legislative Gridlock

Virginia’s legislative impasse over using state funds to buy down scheduled tolls imposed for the next 58 years to pay for rehabilitation of the Norfolk Midtown and Downtown tunnels under the Elizabeth River with private sector partner Elizabeth River Crossings LLC threatens to shut down as many as 473 different maintenance and construction projects in the state. On Friday, April 13, VDOT notified the contractors on its highway and road projects that work will be suspended for the state’s convenience effective May 1, until the legislature can pass a transportation budget.

The $85 billion state budget is gridlocked in the evenly divided Virginia Senate, where Democrats threaten to block passage unless the toll buydowns are included. Monday, April 16, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said he supports postponing imposition of the tolls until 2014, at a cost to the state of $100 million, which will require cancellation of 42 other scheduled highway projects. The $1.84 per car tolls were set to go into effect this year, with annual rate hikes of at least 3.5% beginning in 2016.