Phoenix Light-Rail Repairs: Who Gets Blame, Bill?�
Repairs to cracks found along a $1.4-billion, 20-mile Phoenix-area light-rail project are nearly complete, but deciding who’s to blame is still far from done. The 33-station, at-grade METRO line, which runs through Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, is still on track for its December 27 debut.
Officials found fissures up to 7.5 inches wide across three of the project’s five line segments during routine inspections. In January, consultant Zeta-Tech Associates, Cherry Hill, N.J., was hired for $60,000 to conduct a three-month investigation to determine the cause and recommend repairs. High heat from handheld plasma welding torches used to cut drainage openings into line changed the steel’s structural properties resulting in brittleness and microscopic cracks that worsened with expansion and contraction during seasonal weather changes.