Apparently someone made a mistake. The Virginian-Pilot is reporting that a section of the embedded light rail tracks must be reconstructed due to a failure during a routine inspection. The problem only applies to the concrete surrounding the tracks and in no way requires the rebuilding of the tracks themselves. While this is unfortunate, it give us a couple of things to think about. First, it shows us that the line is being inspected properly. Not that the concrete plays much of a role in the light rail itself (the tracks are built as regular railroad tracks, them surrounded by concrete), but you would not want the concrete breaking up from traffic. The second thing to keep in mind is that HRT is not responsible. Instead, the contractor must cover the cost of the repairs, as it is their mistake.

Workers remove concrete after it failed a compression test.

If only they would have thought about this earlier. Other situations such as the extra pilings they found early last year, should have been dealt with the same way. If you pay a consultant to count the pilings, you expect a thorough job. I could have gone down and counted from shore for the thousands that were paid out. I would have done it for half. I don’t have to say that I am definitely a proponent for light rail in HR, but come on. Hold contract holders responsible all of the time.


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