TTC Corruption:
Unsafe at any speed.
Unsafe at any speed.
At $1.5 Billion dollars, the 130 turnpike is the largest transportation project in Texas.
Documents just revealed by an inside source, show the primer for Gov. Perry's TTC, Turnpike 130, east of Austin, and other toll roads being built around Texas, have FAILED numerous “Dry Density” tests. Documents from inspectors show this amount of failure is causing a loss in concrete integrity by 5 to 8% within the first few months of being poured, and inspector charts show they will continue to decay rapidly. I've seen the documents myself. Part of Jack Blood's report states:
"What the documents prove so far, is that:Read Jack Bloods complete report
The Crushed Limestone used to make the concrete of which the roads are to be built with is weak. This has lead to a total failure of most of the structures, and superstructures currently standing as our future Trans Texas Corridor. Translation: These roads will fall apart long before they are paid for, and could take innocent drivers with them. This has apparently been covered up not only by TXDOT and their contractors, but is being certified out the door by the very contractors there to make sure we never get to this point.
Charts done by my source and other inspectors show that the standing infrastructure is failing right from the beginning. “Decantation tests.” A 5.1 – 8% loss in concrete integrity over just the last few months. This seems to be caused by the initial testing, or lack of testing, of the Sieve quality. (Sieve refers to the rock that makes up the concrete.) In fact my source told me that he was told to inspect around the #4 Sieve (The bigger rocks) because they would not pass, and therefore not be usable in the project. He would eliminate them from the test, but they are used in the end product. He also said that it wouldn’t matter if the test failed anyway, and the testing itself is just a formality. The sieve goes out before the tests are even done, and subsequently used on the roads. No matter how bad it is, it’s just too late. Can you imagine what this concrete will look like in a few years when the job is completed? If it is completed.
In documents reflecting the number of tests needed for August – October 2005, we found that on the SH 130 Turnpike project alone, the tests performed versus the tests REQUIRED by law were far less than required. It seems like TXDOT doesn’t care, and I suspect that they are confident that they wouldn’t get caught. So much for that now.
Tests on the concrete failed consistently on: The Hanson aggregate freeways, the Burnett Grade 2 aggregate, the RTI Georgetown aggregate, Capitol Bolm Road, the Travis aggregate, TXI Green Plant, and the SH 130 Turnpike in general. Nothing was ever done to comply with these tests, and again inspectors were told to shut up about it, or else. So now they are not just under testing the grade, but also covering up failed tests."
“Dry Density tests” are soil tests to make sure that the soil under the freeway structure isn’t “Quick sand”. On the charts we have in our possession, the curve shows that the Dry Density Test met with a maximum percentage of 126.27. I am told that it needs to be closer to 270.00. The inspectors will again “#2 Stamp” the approval and move on, with the soil test coming in under 50%.
"TEXAS TOLL ROADS COULD COLLAPSE BEFORE THEY ARE PAID FOR".
2 comments:
BOB SENT ME AN EMAI:
"Not only will your wallets be emptied almost every time you have to drive somewhere (especially you commuters), but the reckless criminal behavior of the toll road officials indicates they will literally place you and your loved ones lives in danger for the sake of $ and greed!"
FROM Diane:
Ports,Missing Money & Tolls
I may be seeing some pieces to the puzzle of the billions missing
from Iraq and the trillions the Department of Defense can't account
for. The pieces are in plain sight on corporate websites. What you make of it is up to you.
The story begins out here in Colorado, the middle of the
military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned about years ago. A developer out here named Ray Wells discovered an antique law that said a corporation could condemn property to build a toll road. This is eminant domain by a corporation without regulations.
The developer formed a separate corporation for the deal called
the Front Range Tollroad Corporation.(FRTC) He needed a corporate
firewall since he is a subsidiary of Clifton Gunderson, a big accounting firm in Peoria,IL. The accounting firm listed the GAO, the Department of the Treasury, the US Courts, the Colorado Auditors...as clients.
An accountant or auditor can't be seen to profit by an association
or they might be tempted to cook the books. So, there is a separate
corporation for this deal. After all, the Governor was pushing this
project and a connection with the Colorado Auditors wouldn't look so good.
The developer put a claim on a swath of land the size of Delaware
and half of Rhode Island. It was done in such a way that it wouldn't
show on titles. This is a populated area. Prime front range development
property. Not urban blight. The proposed road doesn't fill a need.
Earlier studies said it wouldn't generate enough in tolls and the land
claimed is much larger than needed for a road.
The Department of Defense weighed in despite the fact that there
is no defense advantage. In fact, our area has one Sheriff on duty at
night for the entire county and firefighters are volunteer. There is no
one to defend this road. If there was a hazmat spill, we would all have
to go out with our kitty litter to clean it up.
There is one reason Defense might be interested. One of its big
defense contractors may be involved. The investor for this project is
secret, but a year ago the developer said it was with Meneren Corporation
and not Arab. Most on the list of Meneren clients were Arab except for
Fluor. The developer had done business with Fluor before and it was a
likely candidate.
Fluor is one of the defense contractors in Iraq, a place where
billions of our tax dollars are now missing.Fluor also joined with
Amex(British) to form Fluoramex to let the Brits in on an Iraq defense
contract. So, Fluor is a Meneren client as is the FRTC. So is the government of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emerites(UAE).
A UAE company named DP World has just been OKed to buy a British
port operation company affecting ports in New York, New Jersey,
Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. DP World is a merger between Dubai Port Authority(DPA), a UAE government entity, and DPT Terminals, an international business. Keep in mind that Meneren represents a UAE government and has opened a subsidiary to operate there.
There is some dismay over giving a UAE company any control over
our ports. We are supposed to be worried about nukes being brought into
those ports by Arab terrorists. The 911 terrorists operated out of UAE.
Their funds were traced to UAE banks. UAE won't help trace the money
trail of bin Laudin. But, this port thing is somehow OK because they are now allies? Right!
Let's go back to the accountants. Presumeably, the independent
accountant/auditor could be in a position to follow the money trail of the billions missing from Iraq and the trillions unaccounted for by the
Defense Department.Through their developer subsidiary (and, through a thin corporate veil) they have a connection to defense contractors. Fluor is a Meneren client as is the FRTC. Meneren also retains Bechtel, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. A government of the UAE is also a client. The same UAE that won't disclose money trails and a huge chunk of money has gone missing. Mmmm...
Here's another wrinkle. Before 911, I worked at the Tattered Cover
Bookstore in Denver's Cherry Creek. The bookstore had just won a
landmark case preventing the government from shopping in bookstore
records.(something the Patriot Act was designed to do) Mohammed Atta and a number of his cronies came in the store. Three of us waited on them. In good English, Atta openly asked for airplane books and "The Anarchist's Cookbook".This book is terrorism for dummies normally bought by giggly teen boys. These guys were much too sophisticated for that, judging by the technical issue they were also working on.
After 911, I called the FBI. The first agent hung up on me. The
second agent wasn't interested. I had been a prosecutor and this seemed
the height of incompetence. Or, was it?
Atta's luggage was supposedly lost and showed up with a receipt
from the Tattered Cover and some books. (the ex-wife of one of my
collegues was with CNN and confirmed that) It was something presumeably used to help push Congress to hastily pass the Patriot Act.
But, think about it. This is too much of a coincidence. Atta's
luggage just happened to be lost. And, there just happened to be a receipt and books from the very bookstore that had just won a landmark privacy case. All stuff that shows up just in time to make a case for Congress. Could this instead have been a display of some arrogant person's sick sense of humor?
Here is something else to ponder. What if they aren't worried
about a 911 style attack on ports? Could funding for that 911 attack have been laundered through UAE banks by global corporations that stood to profit from a venture into Iraq? After all, there is a huge chunk of
change missing. There should be a trail if it wasn't laundered through
someplace that won't cooperate. Like UAE.
If UAE knows of such a money trail, could they be in a position to
influence the port deal?
The reason you have an outside accountant or auditor is to act as
a watchdog. Would they be in a position to see the money trail? Could
they be compromised by a subsidiary due to profit from a road deal with
connections to defense contractors and Arab governments?
One of those ports is New Orleans. Could the Katrina disaster be
in the mix, somehow?
Even hints of the possibilities of these kinds of improprieties
should trigger some investigation. If nothing else, it shows potential
vulnerabilities we can ill afford. But, I don't think that Congress is up to it. They seem to be just a rubber stamp these days.
The media won't touch it. Competition laws were thrown out the
window and now 90% of the media is owned by just five big corporations. I guess someone read Ayn Rand and thought that unfettered capitalism
sounded neat as long as they got all the cookies.
The idea that we are in the business of spreading democracy around
the world is a joke. Ben Franklin was asked what kind of government
they gave us. He replied that it was a democracy, if we could keep it.
We haven't!
Diane Verkler
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