官员们说，在国家机构威胁要替换他们之后，为德克萨斯州运输部的一项耗资9.3亿美元的桥梁项目致力于解决官员的设计问题。

Valente Olivarez, Jr., TxDOT’s Corpus Christi district engineer, said state officials have received correspondence from and had direct conversations with top management from the Flatiron/Dragados joint venture building the new Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge, and spoke with executives from Dragados’ parent company, ACS Group, since the state issued a默认通知to the contractors Aug. 16. Those conversations “indicate a new direction from Flatiron/Dragados in their position and in their tone of how we are going to address these issues,” Olivarez said while addressing the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Committee on Sept. 1.

奥利瓦雷斯说：“看来他们与TXDOT的要求保持一致。”

TxDOT received proposed solutions from the design-build project team earlier in the week. The proposals are intended to address what the agency has called “nonconforming design elements” with the planned 1,661-ft-long cable-stayed bridge over the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. In a letter to TxDOT, Flatiron/Dragados project manager Keith Armstrong wrote that the joint venture "is fully committed to satisfy TxDOT's concerns."

根据提案包含的时间表，该项目的工作将在2025年1月之前完成。

Olivarez说，TXDOT工程师现在正在审查承包商和记录员Arup和CFC的拟议变更。他补充说，由于及时性是一个问题，预计审查将需要数周而不是几个月。

Responsibility for Costs

TxDOT is also demanding that Flatiron/Dragados take responsibility for any costs associated with the design issues. Olivarez said conversations have indicated that will happen, but it is not yet confirmed in writing.

“We’re still in the middle of it, as far as the solutions and responsibility,” he said. “We still have our notice of default. We’re not removing that until we’ve given enough time to look at these issues and actually investigate if they resolve what’s in play.”

In his letter, Armstrong wrote that Flatiron/Dragados LLC would cover the expenses of providing designs and installing items to resolve concerns with the design.

官员们还在背景中做准备，以防他们确实需要在默认情况下宣布Flatiron-Dragados并为该项目找到新的承包商。奥利瓦雷斯说，如果发生这种情况，则将涉及担保人 - 利伯蒂共同保险公司。在一封信中，得克萨斯州运输委员会主席J. Bruce Bugg最近还向当地官员保证，他们将对任何费用超支不承担任何责任。

“尽管该项目已经提出了挑战，但委员会致力于当前的多方筹资协议和TXDOT领导人的公开声明，即我们的地方政府合作伙伴不会寻求或要求延误项目变更和延误的额外直接费用。”新利18备用官网登录写。

TxDOT would likely seek three contracts following a default, according to Olivarez. The first would be an emergency contract to address immediate safety concerns like securing the worksite and taking over traffic controls. Then the project would be broken into separate contracts handling the roadway interchange and the main bridge span.

安全问题

txdot订购了flatiron/dragadoshalt work on the main span7月15日，说如果有预定的工作，则立即存在安全问题。

法国运输工程公司Systra的子公司International Bridge Technologies（IBT）雇用了第三方工程师Systra的子公司来审查该设计。TXDOT官员此前曾担心桥梁的计划，并驳回了原始的录制工程师Figg桥梁工程师。

IBT identifiedfive areas of concernwith the design that TxDOT officials called “highly problematic.” Some of those concerns related to the bridge’s delta frames, which had been scheduled for installation until officials ordered the suspension of work on the main span. IBT also raised questions about overloading tower drilled shafts, foundations caps’ ability to resist flexure and shear during wind events and stresses related to crane placement during construction.

Prior to the default notice, another letter from Armstrong to TxDOT officials indicates the contractor at least initially disagreed with IBT’s assessment. The project team and third parties had found the design to be safe, he wrote.

Since TxDOT ordered the temporary suspension of work on the main span, Armstrong wrote that crews had been reassigned to other parts of the project to minimize impacts on the schedule.