GovernmentExecutive.com

The recent ceiling collapse that killed a motorist in Boston's Big Dig and the failure of New Orleans levees to protect the people behind them prove that management decisions of the smallest nature sometimes can mean the difference between life and death.

On July 10, Angel Del Valle and his wife, Milena, were driving through the tunnel in Boston when 12 tons of concrete ceiling panels collapsed onto their car. Angel survived; Milena, 38, did not. The federal Transportation Department is investigating the cause of the collapse, but given the absence of foul play, it is clear this was an engineering failure. The bolts and epoxy holding up the ceiling did not do their job.

A year ago in New Orleans, more than 1,200 people died in the floods caused by Hurricane Katrina and the breach of the levee and floodwall system. Parts failed even though the water never surpassed the system's design capabilities. Engineers said last fall that, among other minor improvements, putting concrete slabs at the base of flood walls would have reduced erosion and strengthened the structures.

"The performance of many of the levees and floodwalls could have been significantly improved, and some of the failures likely prevented, with relatively inexpensive modifications of the levee and floodwall system details," Raymond Seed, a University of California at Berkeley engineering professor, told Congress in November after reviewing the system.

The Big Dig highway cost $14 billion and took well over a decade to build. It was complex, involving many federal, state and local agencies and numerous contractors. The New Orleans levee system was similarly complex, involving many agencies and many contractors. These two projects have been the subject of numerous oversight reviews by inspectors general and other watchdogs.

In both cases, the engineering problems that contributed to the deaths were identified by overseers in the past, though the significance of the problems was not understood before it was too late.

Because both projects were messy, complicated affairs with multiple masters over many years, it's hard to pin the engineering failures on any particular player or any particular decision. Perhaps there are lessons to be learned about the need for clear lines of authority, centralized control and oversight methods that not only identify problems but make sure they are solved. Continuity of leadership was missing in both cases.

But the bottom line is that these were engineering failures, of materials that were bolted, glued or poured into place to protect people.

Those types of failures are particularly hard to fathom when we assume that the fields of engineering, construction and inspection have progressed so far that we needn't worry about the integrity of the structures we rely on. It's easy for managers and executives to assume effectiveness in the base issues of construction materials and workmanship and focus attention on higher level management challenges.

Unfortunately, such assumptions are not warranted. Federal project managers must consider such fundamental concerns as whether the bolts are holding or the levees are made of the right materials. It is still true that those are life-and-death decisions, even in the 21st century.

COMMENTS

• Taxpayer, Please go back and research your opinion. It is not the Army COE that is the problem, but our elected reps in Congress that tell them exactly where to spend the money, like build the roads to the casinos, but wait till next year to fix the dams, or levees, or what ever else needs fixing. The problem with this philosophy is that next year never comes. It is not the COE that is the problem -- it is the good ole boys (and girls) in Congress taking care of their friends with our money. Ted Posted September 13, 2006 7:34 AM
• Given the absence of foul play … Why do you take this as given? This probably is the reason in both cases! Find out who provided the concrete for the Big Dig. Bet it was the family in Boston! Not Tony Soprano but close to it! Also, look at the Army Corps of Engineers and you will find a group that provides funds for local political purposes to continue the re-election of politicians from county level to Congress. The New Orleans disaster was a result of the Army Corps of Engineers and not the weather! The failures during the Mississippi floods of the 1990s also were the fault of the Army Corps of Engineers. It is time that the press stop saying the disaster is the fault of the weather and start blaming the Army Corps so that we can get rid of future problems that the Army Corps is developing as we speak! The Corps rebuilt the New Orleans levees to the pre-Katrina levels. Here we go again. Now the walls around New Orleans will fall again even without trumps. The disaster is the Army Corps of Engineers not the weather. All predictions are for the weather to get worse than it is currently (global warming that the administration is doing nothing significant about to preserve the dollar value of goods and services to rich people). Why would the Army Corps and the politicians rebuild a proven failure? Corruption is located throughout the government from local to federal levels. We need to reduce the size of all government in the United States and start making individuals responsible for themselves again. That is why we are seeing most of our production capability flow out of the country -- government has protected us so much we cannot do anything anymore! And now people want government to protect us by inspecting the total flow of goods into our ports and examine our shoes when we fly. The best government is that which governs least! Let's get back to it! Taxpayer Posted September 8, 2006 7:49 AM
• Compliments to Government Executive and National Journal for keeping this critical issue in focus. Many agree that the safety of the American public is currently being endangered by two problems: outsourcing roles that should be performed by government, and poor monitoring and oversight of contractors. When safety is involved, construction and technical work performed by contractors must be vigorously inspected with no shadow of coercion or conflict attached to the inspectors. Much work on construction and infrastructure is contracted out to experts -- fine. However, a new and dangerous trend is the contracting out of oversight and safety inspections. I've read that the FAA has contracted out safety and maintenance inspections on work performed by aircraft contractors. Many think that the role of deciding what is safe and what is unsafe cannot be contracted out. Public safety is a "buck" that should not be passed. Private industry can better provide independent audits of how government performs this role. Further, the current state of government monitoring of contractors is abysmal. Poor performance by a contractor at one federal agency currently has almost no bearing on their ability to obtain contracts at other federal agencies. It is currently possible for a private firm or individual employed by private firms to repeat non-performance at many consecutive federal agencies without an alarm alerting those agencies of poor past performance. This can become a real problem if that poor performance washes up on a contract involving public safety. Contracting is here to stay -- it is simply too profitable to ever disappear. Enhanced tracking of contractor performance and more proper delineation of the government/contractor roles will save lives. Everything I read about improvements to the contracting process is focused on simply accelerating the rate at which taxpayers dollars are distributed to private firms. The emphasis must be on effectiveness and efficiency of work performed. Joseph Posted September 6, 2006 8:53 AM