According to the report, the smaller cracks resulted from inadequate thermal controls, an issue that falls on Kiewit-General. Meredith agrees, adding, "We are looking at if they were compliant with the contract or not. In some cases they weren't."

Kiewit-General replied in an email, "We are 100% committed to working with WSDOT to deliver the safest, highest-quality pontoon bridge."

The original timetable called for the final pontoons to arrive at Lake Washington in spring 2014 for a December 2014 finish. "It may all change," says Meredith. "It is going to be a question of what are the opportunities to recover schedule, and what will that cost? How is that cost borne between state and contractor?

The state designed the pontoons in-house to meet a fast-tracked time line set by former Gov. Chris Gregoire (D). "The results of our internal review show that we did not follow standards of good practice to validate the pontoon design elements," Hammond says. "As an engineer, that is particularly frustrating."

The text was updated March 11, 2013 to reflect the fact that WSDOT's contract with Kiewit-General was a design-build contract awarded in January 2010.