Re: Re-used ballast in Twin Peaks Tunnel to prove costly
Author: Whoa, an accurate headline
Date: 11-20-2020 - 11:39
Julie Kirschbaum, the SFMTA’s director of transit, told the Transportation Authority board, a body made up of all 11 members of the Board of Supervisors, that instead of replacing the ballast rock during the project, as specified in the project contract, “a decision was made” to reuse the ballast that had been in place for decades.
“If the ballast had been cleaned and kind of shaken out so that all of the mud and fine particles were removed, reusing the ballast probably would have been a cost-effective and time-effective strategy,” Kirschbaum said. “But it wasn’t. And as a result, we now have ballast that is really more mud than rock and needs to be addressed.”
In an answer to a question from Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Kirschbaum said the cost of having a contractor go in and replace the ballast would be in the millions of dollars.
“Millions or tens of millions?” Mandelman asked.
“I think tens of millions,” Kirschbaum said.