[Wally_Kalbacken]

Welding fraud...glamour, intrigue, money....

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

OK. somebody has to respond to this post. Welding is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Inspecting welds is even more boring. This is the kind of living where disgruntled workers can get their rocks off telling the FBI the evidence is down 300 feet under water encased in concrete.

Can't the communists find something better to write about?

[Disambiguator]

If this is true, then it's an example of deception by boredom. It could also be potentially very dangerous. People could care less about welds, and talking about them causes MEGO. But when the bridge collapses, suddenly it becomes very interesting.

[Lloyd227]

Let me guess...... there are Union issues involved here somewhere.....

Do we have a non-union contractor involved and Union welders making phone calls to the FBI?

[Carry_Okie]

From what I've read, they're only testing five of thirty-two available locations. Considering the number of welds in the buried columns, that isn't much of a sample by which to prove a negative (that there aren't defects).

Frankly, I would expect them to use x-rays if they were really seeking to know for certain.

[John O]

Yet former welders on the project maintain that supervisors told them to ignore defects and that supervisors bullied third-party inspectors to sign off on faulty work. Many also claimed they were laid off because they raised safety issues -- allegations that an independent arbitrator rejected in late March.

here's the key. title should read "Disgruntled former employee with an axe to grind makes spurious complaint"