Report: Secrecy enveloped Bay Bridge project (w/video)

SACRAMENTO — Senior officials who oversaw construction of the $6.5 billion eastern span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge repeatedly and deliberately brushed off criticism about construction problems and sought to keep information secret as part of an "institutionalized, if not malicious, lack of transparency in the project," a state Senate investigative report released Thursday found.

The 64-page report, commissioned by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing in the wake of numerous media reports about construction flaws, cost overruns and delays, found a pattern of mismanagement among Caltrans officials and systemic failures in the way problems were reported and tracked.

However, none of the dozens of people interviewed has said the bridge is unsafe, the report by journalist Roland De Wolk said.

"Even the most aggrieved critics involved in the construction say they have confidence in the integrity of the structure," the report said, though many believe "the officially estimated 150-year lifespan is exaggerated."

"It is the finding of this investigation that those involved in overseeing the project have attempted to keep many serious allegations quiet, rather than dealing with them in an open, businesslike manner," the report said.

Most of the serious criticisms of the project were revealed by the news media rather than by government agencies.

Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty called the report flawed and said it failed to incorporate many of the corrections his agency pointed out after a draft was discussed at a January hearing.

"This report rehashes issues that have been investigated, reviewed and in many cases resolved," Dougherty said in a written statement. "Any concerns about welds, anchor rods, tendons, leaks, and foundation testing have been investigated, in many cases by outside experts, and resolved."

It came the same day a separate review by an independent panel of engineers found the engineering and design work met safety standards.

Dougherty acknowledged that the process was too secretive, partly because the legislation that created the toll bridge oversight committee for the bridge exempted it from California's open meetings law.

In retrospect that was a mistake, Dougherty said in an interview.

The report said there was an unspoken directive not to document problems in writing. Dougherty said while he was not present for many of the verbal conversations referenced in the report, in his 24 years at the agency, "I have never run into this non-documentation."

"I would hope that I'd be able to say that it's not the culture of the agency," he said, adding that officials have specific requirements about daily reports and how to document them. "There should not be any direction not to document any issues."