Bay Bridge

The firing of a former engineering supervisor for the California Department of Transportation, whose unit was involved in falsification of test data for foundations of state bridges, was upheld Thursday by the State Personnel Board.

The California Department of Transportation said Monday that it was reviewing whether the large bolts that broke last month on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge had failed quality-control tests by the agency's materials lab.

In an investigation released Thursday, the Bureau of State Audits sharply criticized the California Department of Transportation for numerous lapses in managing a unit that tests foundations of bridges and other freeway structures to verify their soundness and safety.

Fixing broken bolts that are key to the Bay Bridge's ability to withstand a seismic shock will take months but should not delay its opening, California Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday.

A recently released California Department of Transportation investigation, which concluded that testing errors and falsifications of data did not affect the safety of state bridges, revealed for the first time that improprieties extended beyond one rogue technician.

An analysis from a team of California Department of Transportation experts, released Thursday after more than a year of preparation, confirmed data problems involving radiation-based tests of reinforced concrete foundations for nine bridges or other freeway structures, including the Benicia-Martinez Bridge.

The Brown administration said Friday it has ordered heightened review of future state public relations contracts, after the revelation of a nearly $10 million deal officials said they knew nothing about.

State officials overseeing construction of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge agreed this year to pay a public relations company nearly $10 million for services the Brown administration says it knew nothing about, including hundreds of thousands of dollars to conduct tours and to produce a video and commemorative book.

After months of publicly defending the work and secretive process of a panel investigating the testing and safety of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the California Department of Transportation agreed Wednesday to allow greater public scrutiny.

Brian Liebich, fired last year from his job as manager of a Caltrans unit that tests bridge foundations, began a courtroom battle Wednesday to recover his reputation and his job before a State Personnel Board administrative law judge.

Three state senators initiated an independent examination Tuesday into construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge after problems were discovered within Caltrans' testing program.

As he came to the defense of Caltrans recently, Gov. Jerry Brown derided The Bee for having the audacity to question testing of the foundation for the new $6.5 billion Bay Bridge and other vital links in California's transportation system.

A special team within Caltrans has uncovered problems with safety testing far broader than previously known.

A Bee review of the more than 9,000 Caltrans data files created during tests of foundation piles of freeway structures found a new kind of problem that has not been publicly acknowledged by Caltrans officials: missing data readings.

Unspecified testing data irregularities were found involving reinforced concrete piles 2 and 5 of the unopened eastern span main tower foundation, which has 13 piles in all.

The Bee first reported last November that a Caltrans employee falsified data on radiation tests of foundations of freeway structures, and conducted tests on foundation piles of the new Bay Bridge main tower foundation without ensuring the accuracy of his equipment. Since then Caltrans has responded to concerns about the gamma-gamma radiation tests and complementary sonic-wave tests in sometimes contradictory ways:

View of a map of bridges throughout the state that are being investigated for irregularities in the test data for their foundations.

Gov. Jerry Brown defended the state's construction and oversight of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Thursday, saying he's been told that a Bee investigation raising questions about the bridge's structural integrity "borders on malpractice."

The Assembly Transportation Committee on Monday approved an amended version of Senate Bill 878 that would order the California Transportation Commission to examine whether an inspector general should be established to oversee state transportation agencies.

Concrete isn't a topic most journalists would choose to cover.

The Sacramento Bee announced today that it rejected the request from the California Department of Transportation to retract a story raising questions about the structural integrity of a foundation of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The California Department of Transportation on Friday called "completely inaccurate" a Bee investigation that raised questions about the structural integrity of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the agency's director publicly requested a retraction.

The director of the California Department of Transportation said Tuesday he would consult with independent experts from outside his agency about testing and construction concerns involving the foundation of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

A builder of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge failed to disclose that a 19-foot section of concrete in the foundation of the span's signature tower had not hardened before it was tested.

The California Senate Transportation Committee announced Tuesday that it will hold a public hearing on the use of expert advisers by the state Department of Transportation.

Leading engineering advisers, who met in secret to assess the testing and safety of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, maintain numerous financial and professional ties to the agency whose work they evaluate.

An expert engineering panel has concluded that the foundation of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge is safe and sound, according to its report released Friday.

Duane Wiles, recently fired by the California Department of Transportation for fabricating bridge tests, has been allowed to resign instead.

Brian Liebich, the fired manager of the state Department of Transportation unit that tested the foundation of the new Bay Bridge, has denied any wrongdoing and says he has been made a scapegoat.

The American Council of Engineering Companies of California has put up a YouTube post to promote its take on questions raised by The Bee concerning structural tests of the Bay Bridge's new span.

Caltrans technician Duane Wiles, who falsified test data on the structural integrity of freeway structures, was sanctioned by the state Department of Transportation in 2000 for numerous serious workplace violations, including "inexcusable neglect of duty," yet was retained as a technician until last month.

The Caltrans worker fired last month following allegations that he falsified structural integrity test reports was booted from state service before, but a state board overturned that firing after determining it resulted from "a one-time lapse in judgment."

At a legislative oversight hearing Wednesday, California Department of Transportation officials said that they were working to rectify management and data-security problems that have called into question the reliability of the new Bay Bridge and other freeway structures.

The chairman of the state Senate Transportation and Housing Committee on Tuesday called on Attorney General Kamala Harris to open a criminal investigation into the practices of the California Department of Transportation's Foundation Testing Branch.

A federal investigation has found that two Caltrans employees recently fired over problems in the agency's unit that tests underground foundations for bridges were involved in the theft of construction materials owned by the state and federal governments.

In a sometimes contentious legislative hearing Tuesday, state senators told California Department of Transportation officials that their management of data falsification by a technician in one of the agency's testing units suggests pervasive management problems.

Caltrans released thousands of pages of new information Monday about data fabrications and other problems in its Foundation Testing Branch, a unit that examines the underground supports for bridges and other freeway structures in California.

A few months back Charles Piller and his editor, Scott Lebar, wandered into my office to tell me Piller had discovered concerns about the safety testing on the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Bay Area transportation commissioners said Wednesday that Caltrans has much to explain about why it failed to notify other officials that a technician who had fabricated test data on several structures also tested the new Bay Bridge.

The Bee's Sunday report that a state worker violated key procedures while testing support structures for the new Bay Bridge span and other projects raises anew the question: Should California privatize more of its infrastructure work?

A state oversight committee announced Tuesday that it had requested a formal review of the foundation of the new Bay Bridge tower by the state's Seismic Safety Peer Review Panel.

Inspecting bridges and freeways in quake-prone California is arguably the most crucial work Caltrans performs. These inspections not only safeguard lives now and in the immediate future, but for an engineering project like the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, they provide a safety factor that is expected to last for decades.

Caltrans fired two employees who were implicated in problems involving the tests of the Bay Bridge and other freeway structures throughout California, as reported in a Bee investigation Sunday.

A Bee investigation has found that the state Department of Transportation technician who conducted key testing to ensure structural integrity of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge eastern span's foundation was later disciplined for fabricating test results on other projects.

Caltrans tests the underground steel and concrete supports piles that support bridges and other freeway structures to ensure against construction defects. Use our interactive map to view some of the structures that have suspect test records.

At least two agencies have been investigating Caltrans' Foundation Testing Branch - whose technician, Duane Wiles, falsified bridge tests - for financial fraud.

Once it is rebuilt, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be an iconic structure whose majesty should give all Californians a deep sense of pride.

The Sacramento Bee has rejected a request from Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty to retract its story raising questions about the structural integrity of a foundation of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Here is a fact check, reviewing point-by-point, the request received from Caltrans.

The Sacramento Bee has rejected a request from Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty to retract its story raising questions about the structural integrity of a foundation of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Here is a fact check of what The Bee believes to be the most crucial points made by Caltrans in its retraction request.