Posted Apr 24, 2019, 4:17 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 84
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Update to the crumbling path on top of the Transit Center.
Quote:
Less than a year after it opened, the pathway that runs through the troubled Transbay Transit Center’s rooftop park is being torn out and replaced at a cost upward of $1 million.
After months of repeatedly patching up the eco-friendly path, officials have determined it is beyond repair.
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“Clearly, the path is not measuring up to ours or the public’s expectations, and we need to fix that,” Transbay Joint Powers Authority spokeswoman Christine Falvey said.
In its brief lifetime, the walkway gave thousands of visitors access to the park’s attractions and botanical displays, all framed by panoramic views of the surrounding streets and buildings.
Unfortunately, the decomposed granite used in the pathway, which winds the length of the three-block-long park, failed to hold up even under normal foot traffic.In fact, the walkway began falling apart before the $2.2 billion transit center opened last August, with dozens of spots along the half-mile loop cratering like sidewalk potholes.
The walkway was only in full use for about six weeks before the entire center was closed in September when cracks were discovered in two of its key support beams.
But even without foot traffic, the path continued to deteriorate in the winter rains.“We want to rebuild the path with a cost-effective, easy-to-maintain, durable material,” Falvey said.She estimated demolishing and removing the pathway would cost about $500,000.
Replacing the 10-foot-wide walkway will mean pumping about 50 cement trucks’ worth of material 70 feet up to the center’s fourth-floor roof garden. Workers are already tearing out the walkway and hauling the debris out in giant bags.
Bids are still out for the replacement work, so it’s too early to say for certain what the final cost will be. Sources, however, said it would likely cost at least another $500,000 to replace the walkway with concrete, bringing the total to $1 million — likely more.
Who pays for the fix remains to be seen.
Falvey said the walkway is a warranty issue. The center’s main contractor, Webcor/Obayashi Joint Venture, disagrees.
Webcor/Obayashi “repeatedly cautioned the TJPA that the product was not right for the project,” said Amanda Gillespie, vice president of Webcor Builders. “The TJPA directed the product be installed as specified and then modified the standard manufacturer’s mix to attain the custom dark gray color. WOJV views this as an error in product specification, and the product has performed as WOJV and McGuire & Hester forewarned.”
The next stop will be a hearing before a dispute resolution board to determine who will pay.
Replacing the crumbling path is the latest repair needed on the massive transit center. The fix on the cracked beams is expected to be completed in June, but a reopening date has yet to be set pending an independent review of the entire center’s construction.
The hope is to have the walkway back in operation by reopening day as well.
“The goal is to have a majority of the work done on the walkway by our reopening day to minimize the impact to the public,” Falvey said.“What’s the rush? You can’t get into the building anyway,” said Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who chairs the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.
“This is the city that knows how — to screw up every major project,” Peskin said.
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http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/philma...p?t=751f2768e6
Hopefully the Concrete they pour will last a little longer.
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