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.