Another day, another excellent column by Marc Fisher. Today, Fisher questions the decision to award Bechtel, responsible for the disastrous "Big Dig" fiasco in Boston, a secretive contract for the $5 billion (and rising) Metro extension to Dulles Airport. According to Fisher:
...when you pick your contractor, you will certainly shy away from the guy you know was involved in massive cost overruns on your friend's basement. That's where Virginia and you part ways: To design Metro's extension from Falls Church to the airport, the state hired a consortium headed by Bechtel Corp., the company that managed perhaps the biggest construction fiasco in American history, Boston's Big Dig.
Fisher cites a report by the Massachusetts inspector general, who concluded that Bechtel "failed to inform the state legislature of the true cost of the Big Dig," "failed to detect major flaws in construction, signed off on error-filled designs and was responsible for more than $1 billion in cost overruns." Heckuva job, in other words! So why on earth would we want to hire these guys, especially when there was an alternate bid by Dragados that came in hundreds of millions of dollars below Bechtel's AND included a tunnel in Tysons Corner?
[sound of crickets chirping...chirp, chirp]
Any ideas out there, or only crickets?
I also intend to request information regarding which state employees (if any)involved in the selection of Bechtel and/or contract negotiations later accepted a job offer from Bechtel. My objective in obtaining this information is not to determine if there was anything improper, but rather to determine if any offical had any discussion with Bechtel about a future job offer before contract award. Obviously, if any such discussion did occur, the government official would (or at least should) have recused himself/herself from any and all further involvement in the selection and negotion process. I doubt that any of this occured, but it's still important to review the fact any way if for no other reason to put to rest such questions.
One other thing I intend to do, possibly the most important, is to take a very close look at the various contract sections relating to the requirement for Firm Fixed Price awards (and there are many, surpisingly enough) pursuant to forcing Bechtel to accept the large majority of the risk. This provision alone should greatly limit Bechtel's ability to get paid for cost over-runs.
Thanks again for posting Fischer's article. Unless we carefully review the contract details, watch monthly progress reports and monitor the cost growth for any evidence of improper payments to Bechtel for cost over-runs not caused by the state, we will be helping Bechtel take us for a ride.
Thanks again for this post. As the saying goes, the devil is in the details and it's not too difficult to find where the devil is at work if we know what we're looking for and how to look for it.
T.C.
Those of us who have not gotten off the dime proclaiming the "Tysons Rail" is nothing more than a land deal project for Tyson's land owners, appreciate your bringing this boon doggle to the forefront.
We are stuck in traffic gridlock and the rail will do absolutely not one thing to reduce traffic congestion. Even their own data analysis in the environmental studies report this.
Do our Supervisors care....you bet you bottom dollar....they do not. They just have $$$ signs dancing in their eyes as they watch the campaign $$$$ come forth.
Also, not only did the company have cost overruns and cut corners which I believe took a life when a piece of the tunnel fell on a car, they were involved in paying bribes to the Massachusetts head of the department of transportation who was then convicted of the crimes.
This is the equivanlent of hiring a company which has failed at a similar project, and whose management have endorsed criminal activites. Looks like they saw all our tax money and wanted some. Anyone think they will contribute to Jeanmarie's campaign?
The Post reported that Davis wrote Kaine "a forceful letter" and made several non-public visits to him.
As a company, Bechtel has kept its name from the news and even from being connected to particular candidates by not donating under the company name. But if you search the VPAP site through Google you'll get an awful lot of hits for a company that donates so little.
What was behind the Davis switch to give lip service to support of the tunnel, after it was too late?
Chap Peterson said it best..."I guess if you take both sides of an issue you can never be wrong."
And, don't forget, the Bechtel documents will be secret.
According to the experts, tunnel advantages include:
* The total cost of the tunnel
* The tunnel's "life-cycle costs" (maintenance) about $5 million per year.
* The tunnel's lifespan, potentially twice that of an aerial structure.
* Construction time, about six months more quickly than the aerial structure
* Disruption - tunneling avoids the need to move utilities or reconstruct roads, severe traffic congestion exacerbated by construction trucks continually rolling through the heart of Tysons, along with construction noise and increased air pollution.
* No permanent changes to the character of the area.
And finally, obsolescence. "Why build something that we will want to tear down a few decades from now?"
Recognize any names associated with the Tysons (Dulles) Rail project?
Read the entire article here:
Are we next????
BECHTEL PAC COMMITTEE to Tom Davis: $10,500
03/09/1998 500.00 98032950947
07/22/1998 1000.00 98033624328
11/01/2000 1000.00 20036553571
02/14/2002 1000.00 22990610688
09/11/2002 1000.00 22991939741
10/13/2003 1000.00 24990235019
08/29/2005 1000.00 26990117969
10/28/2005 1000.00 26990117970
03/20/2006 3000.00 26950045340
See also the Friends of McLean: $17,300
FRIEND, WILLIAM L, MCLEAN, VA 22101, BECHTEL GROUP INC
FRIEND, MARY KAY MRS. MCLEAN VA 22101 10/04/2006 1000.00
FRIEND, MARY KAY MRS. MCLEAN VA 22101 04/21/2003 1000.00
FRIEND, MARY KAY MRS. MCLEAN VA 22101 07/27/2006 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L MCLEAN VA 22101 11/29/1999 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L MCLEAN VA 22101 06/06/2000 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L MCLEAN VA 22101 12/10/1997 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 04/21/2003 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 06/04/2001 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 06/03/2002 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 02/27/2003 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 01/21/2005 2000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 03/09/2007 2300.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 12/23/2003 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 12/08/2005 1000.00
FRIEND, WILLIAM L. MR. MCLEAN VA 22101 10/18/2005 1000.00
ALSO donated to: FEDERAL VICTORY FUND (Davis's PAC): 04/24/2000 1000.00
ALSO donated to VA VICTORY FUND (Davis's OTHER PAC) 01/21/1999 1000.00
ALSO donated to NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS (Davis's Committee): 10/18/2000 1000.00
BECHTEL PAC COMMITTEE to Tom Davis: $10,500
03/09/1998 500.00 98032950947
07/22/1998 1000.00 98033624328
11/01/2000 1000.00 20036553571
02/14/2002 1000.00 22990610688
09/11/2002 1000.00 22991939741
10/13/2003 1000.00 24990235019
08/29/2005 1000.00 26990117969
10/28/2005 1000.00 26990117970
03/20/2006 3000.00 26950045340
From 1998 to 2006, donated $10,500 to Tom Davis.
Connolly gets donations in the $10,000 drops and they are not from the "Lil ol lady from Pasedena."
You did such a good job of reporting contributions to Davis, could you do the same for Connolly?
As to Connally, his donations do sometimes follow a similar path. The next question is, what do the buyers get for their money? Connally didn?t go traipsing down to Kaine?s office a few days after cashing a Bechtel check and make threats, and I don?t think he changed his mind because he got caught selling access. Davis did. But if I?m missing something, by all means chime in.
These two concepts are the same fears that many have in regards to all the campaign $$$$$ that Connolly receives.
The documents are here at fairfaxcounty.gov. Knock em dead!
http://www.fairfaxco...