Will Tempe get screwed again on the damn it purchases to damn up Tempe Town Toilet??? The last damn used for Tempe Town Toilet only lasted 10 of the 20 years it was supposed to last. When the city of Tempe asked the maker to hone its VERBAL GUARANTEE the vendor told Tempe to F*CK OFF. Why didnt the royal rulers of Tempe get the guarantee in writing??? That story probably has something to do with bribes, oops, I mean campaign contributions. azcentral/story/news/local/tempe/2014/12/02/tempe-plans-two-year-warranty-year-dam/19767515/ Tempe plans two-year warranty on 50-year dam Dianna M. Náñez, The Republic | azcentral 10:23 p.m. MST December 1, 2014 Tempe officials say they are certain that a two-year warranty will be sufficient for the new Town Lake steel dam, which is expected to last 50 years and cost $40.8 million. Some residents arent convinced. Engineering experts who spoke with The Arizona Republic said there are no industry standards for warranty lengths on major dam projects, as each dam is tailored to the site and function. City and contract engineers have said the structure will be the worlds largest hydraulically controlled crest-gate dam and will span about 950 feet across the Salt River. Officials with the Arizona Department of Water Resources, which is charged with the dams safety, have told The Republic that there are similar U.S. dams but that using the steel-gate technology as a primary dam structure is uncommon, as such barriers most often sit atop concrete dams, where smaller steel gates allow water to spill over. Construction on the massive project began this summer and is expected to be completed by next December. Tempe City Manager Andrew Ching said the Tempe City Council will have to vote on the dams warranty only if the cost is $50,000 or more, which is the monetary threshold for city actions that require council approval. The two-year warranty comes with the purchase of the dam and is therefore not subject to a council vote, Ching said. Andy Goh, Tempes deputy public works director and engineer, said city and contract engineering experts who have reviewed plans for the dam say the two-year warranty is an industry standard for major capital projects involving steel and concrete. Some residents have worried that Tempe taxpayers will pay the price for the City Council accepting a short-term warranty on a 50-year dam. That concern is heightened because the citys original Town Lake rubber dam failed in 2010, at least a decade earlier than it was supposed to. Joseph Pospicil, a longtime critic of Town Lake and the failed rubber dam, said Tempes steel dam is a costly taxpayer-funded project that merits greater council and public scrutiny. Pospicil said he wants the council to commission a study to analyze the risks of the dam failing or deteriorating, as well as the costs of purchasing a lengthier warranty or additional insurance vs. funding a savings account to pay for future unexpected fixes. Once that study is complete, Pospicil said, the council should schedule a public hearing so residents may review and comment on the analysis prior to Tempe making a final warranty decision. Construction on the new Town Lake dam began this summer and is to be done next December. It is expected to cost $40.8 million and last 50 years, far longer than the original rubber dam.(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic) Previous dam burst The original dam, made of four massive rubber bladders, was completed in 1999 and incorporated technology that never had been tested in desert temperatures. It had a 10-year warranty, but the city was told the rubber bladders would last more than 20 years. Before the failure, Bridgestone Industrial Products Inc. and city leaders argued over who was at fault for not installing a structure to spray water on the dam to cool the black rubber bladders in the sweltering desert heat. An agreement was reached to install a temporary rubber dam and give the council more time to find a permanent replacement. But before a temporary fix could be installed, the rubber dam burst and spewed an estimated 1 billion gallons of water into the dry river bed, creating a muddy mess. Goh said the steel materials and construction being used for the new dam is more reliable than the rubber dam. Additionally, many components of the steel dam have separate, longer warranties, he said. We are using very traditional construction materials … concrete and steel, Goh said. You design it correctly, build it correctly, and it lasts a long time. An industry standard? Joseph Kulikowski, a California civil engineer and dam expert with Genterra Consultants, said that while he is not familiar with the Town Lake dam project, each dam is built specific to its location and purpose, so warranties and liabilities would depend on those details. There is no industry standard, he said. Ive seen over 350 dams in my whole career; every one is different. You could have a warranty on just one part thats perhaps longer than necessary and just the reverse so that you could have a warranty thats very short on a critical component. You would have to look at the whole thing. Ross Boulanger, a civil-engineering professor at the University of California who has managed risk assessments of major capital projects, said that because no dam is alike, any warranty and maintenance plan must be tailored. A manufacturer who produces a unique structure, and there is no other one like it, they dont have that history on which to know exactly how its going to behave over 50 years of operation, he said. Boulanger said some manufacturers of major capital projects reach agreements with cities or states to operate the structure for the life of the proejct. That way they are guaranteeing their work for the life expectancy of a costly capital project, he said. It also helps guarantee the structure is maintained to the manufacturers specifications, he said. Federal agencies are in the early stages of using independent risk assessments to review some dam designs, but that review is not required at the state level, said Tom Woosley, a program manager with the Georgia Safe Dams Program. Woosley said manufacturers typically will not warranty an entire dam because the structure involves too many components. A large project like that (Town Lake steel dam) certainly warrants having an independent reviewer whos experienced with dams, Woosley said. Then you just have to have faith in the individual engineers involved with it and make sure the engineer who does the design is on site during construction. Goh said city, contract and Water Resources engineers have reviewed the dam engineering plan. Water Resources has called on Tempe to contract with a separate engineering firm to independently review the novel hydraulic system that will raise and lower the steel dam gates. Tempe has received the first phase of permitting from Water Resources, which allows for foundation work, Goh said. The second phase will consider the entire dam system, including the hydraulics, and is expected in a couple of weeks, Goh said. Tempe City Council members have said they understand why residents are worried about the dam failing again. But comparing the steel dam to the rubber dam is akin to comparing apples to oranges, Councilman Kolby Granville said. The difference with the rubber bladder and the steel dam is the rubber is designed to fail eventually, Granville said. The Empire State Building is still standing, and its more than 50 years old, and thats because its built out of steel. During the last council update in May, staff said Tempes property-insurance policy would cover damages up to an estimated $41 million. Mayor Mark Mitchell said he felt reassured that the new dam would be protected at a rate that equates to what it will cost to build. The policy includes coverage for natural disasters. However, it does not cover the dam for wear and tear, gradual deterioration or a defective design, according to the May report. The dam contractor, Tempe-based PCL Construction, said the company could offer an insurance policy through a third party to cover the dam beyond the standard two-year warranty, according to the May report. Goh, the deputy public works director, said he was not aware of Tempe pursuing the manufacturers extended insurance. The council supported the staff recommendation in May not to seek further insurance coverage through the dam manufacturer. Staff said the council also could seek additional insurance through the citys current provider. Costs for the additional insurance were not included in the May report, but Ching said financial estimates could be sought if the council directed staff to seek insurance beyond the two-year warranty. Granville told The Republic in November that if the dam deteriorates earlier than expected, the city could sue for compensation. Politically, it plays well to say we have to insure our assets, but its not factually accurate, because its not insurance we need in this situation, he said. In the case of this particular project, this particular type of structure, if it fails, its a product-liability lawsuit. However, legal options were a challenge for Tempe officials who dealt with the original rubber dam, which failed after 10 years despite claims it would last more than 20. Tempe officials negotiated with Bridgestone when the rubber dam began deteriorating years earlier than expected, but the parties argued over who was at fault for the problems. Tempe is paying for the steel dam as a long-term replacement. As part of an agreement with the manufacturer, Tempe is using a rented rubber dam from Bridgestone that must be removed by December 2015 or the city could face fines. Five facts about Town Lake Each of the eight steel dam gates will be 106 feet long, 17 feet high and 232,000 pounds. Each of the dams 16 hydraulic cylinders will be 27 feet long. The average depth of the lake is 12.5 feet; its deepest point is 19 feet. The lake holds about 977 million gallons of water. Evaporation each year costs Town Lake about the same amount of water used by two golf courses or a 1,000-acre alfalfa field. Source: Tempe For more on Tempe Town Toilet check out: tempetowntoilet.100webspace.net And just for fun check out the Tempe Cesspool for the Arts: tempe-cesspool-for-the-arts.tripod/
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:36:46 +0000
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