How do we know we’re getting quality in Hwy40 reconstruction?
I’m one of those guys who is deeply affected by the Highway 40 reconstruction project. If it gets sped along, that’s OK with me.
Missouri’s Department of Transportation has contracted with Gateway Constructors to rebuild the highway using a novel “design/build” concept. The designers of the project are also carrying it out. And, it turns out, they’re also inspecting it.
According to my colleague Elisa Crouch’s story:
For the first time, MoDOT has given the responsibility of inspections to its contractor, Gateway Constructors, the group of companies rebuilding the highway. Gateway employees - not the state - are making judgment calls and watching to make sure their crews aren’t short-changing taxpayers on the $535 million job.
The department gave oversight to Gateway for the sake of efficiency, department officials said. The traditional inspection arrangement also would have stretched the department’s staff too thin, they said, or required the hiring of more inspectors.
And, it turns out, the contractors have been called on some problems, even though the inspectors work for them. Elisa documents a case involving bolts that lacked proper documentation over whether they had been tested. Says the story, “Gateway stopped work for at least a week. They ordered the bolts removed and replaced — a costly undertaking.”
Still, some experts say the practice isn’t widespread yet and is tantamount to the fox watching the hen house.
Do you agree? Do you understand the reasoning behind this method of inspection? Does it raise concerns about the quality of the work we’ll get in the Highway 40 project?
Kurt is the director of social media for the Post-Dispatch, where he has worked since August 2002. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
Design/build is not a novel concept, it is a novel concept for a MoDOT project. The bolting problem occured last year on one of the flyovers built at the 40/170 interchange. Apparently the iron workers used bolts from a lot that had not been tested by the Materials Division of the state and therefore there was no way of knowing if they met specs. And you aren’t supposed to test them after they have been used, thus the whole lot had to be removed.
As for your question Kurt: I am a civil engineer and have been on the contruction side of transportation projects for St Louis County, MoDOT, and MetroLink, and I cannot fathom why any project involving public dollars does not have independent oversight. Whether MoDOT uses their own people or hires outside consultants to do it, the work on public transportation projects should be as transparent as possible.
Let me make one thing very clear: I am not questioning the integrity or honesty of any contractor on the 40 project or any other project I have been involved with. By and large these companies do it right because they work on small profit margins and anything they shortcut or mess up will cost them too much money to redo. Of course not every worker or every company is that way, but there are a few bad apples in every bunch regardless of the work or business being discussed.
But in order for a clear conscious on the part of the public, the government, and even the companies doing the work, independent inspection and oversight should be kept on these projects to remove any doubt and ensure the most bang for the taxpayer buck.