Inspectors Find No Problems With Welds On Bay Bridge

Federal and state officials say they didn´t find any problems in the first round of tests of some of the welding work on the Bay Bridge.

Using special equipment, inspectors from the Federal Highway Administration and contractors hired by Caltrans checked five welds in a column that will support part of the elevated skyway.

The tests were in response to allegations last week that hundreds of welds on the new east span were faulty. Caltrans officials say more welds will be check, but didn´t say when. The F-B-I is investigating the allegations of faulty welds, and has subpoenaed nearly 300-thousand pages of Caltrans records detailing inspections of the welds.

Both Caltrans and the lead contractor, K-F-M, deny any problems with the quality of the welds. Meanwhile, welding work on the Bay Bridge remains stopped. Caltrans says the work stoppage is costing at least 400-thousand dollars a day.