Bay Bridge Corrosion Problems Date Back 9 Years

http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2013/05/20/97597/

• Beginning in 2004, inspectors frequently warned Caltrans about water leaks and corrosion.

• Experts blamed water problems on design or construction errors. Leaks of grout – a cement-based filler that normally prevents or halts corrosion – between hundreds of ducts forced long construction delays that left steel tendons exposed, making further corrosion likely.

• Caltrans used the wrong tests for corrosion, resulting in "essentially useless" findings, said UC Berkeley engineering professor Thomas Devine, an authority on corrosion-caused cracking in metals. He called the agency's research "woefully inadequate" for detecting "environmentally