Examiner ignored facts about Dulles Rail delay Re: “Audit: Dulles Rail 6 months behind schedule,” Oct. 1
Your report that Phase I of the Dulles Metrorail project is now six months behind schedule is flat out incorrect. These are the facts:
Soon after construction of Phase I commenced in March 2009, it was projected to be substantially complete on July 31, 2013. Today project staff projects that Phase I will reach substantial completion on Aug. 9, 2013.
You appear to have based your report on a statement in a July 2011 report prepared by rail project staff for the Federal Transit Administration, as well as out project partners, that the Phase I contractor has encountered delays. However, what you explicitly chose to ignore is the adjoining statement that the contractor “is in the process of recovering all delays. …” You also chose to ignore the project staff’s professional disagreement with the critical path analysis that prompted the contractor’s statements regarding delays.
In a construction project of this magnitude, challenges to project schedule and cost arise almost daily. That’s why the rail project staff produces a report each month which gives particular attention to early identification of any issues with the potential to impact schedule or cost so they can work with the contractor to address and if possible eliminate them.
Unfortunately, none of this was reflected in The Examiner article, which ignored the fact that this potential delay has been addressed and that Phase I is now projected to be complete a mere nine days later than the original date.
In the months ahead, there will no doubt be other construction events that have the potential to delay Phase I, but like those in the past, they will be addressed with a coordinated effort by project staff and the contractor to keep it on schedule.
The Dulles Metrorail project is one of the most scrutinized public works projects ever constructed in our region. It has many stakeholders, and the Airports Authority works hard to keep all of them, along with the public, informed. We ask that The Examiner assist us in this effort by publishing reports that are accurate and complete.
Jack Potter
President and chief executive officer,
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Editor’s note: The Airports Authority’s claims were presented in the story, including Chairman Charles Snelling saying that the contractor would try to make up the lost time. The Examiner stands by its story.
Federal funds should go to non-military sector
Re: “MontCo lawmakers urge military cuts,” Oct. 3
The Examiner quotes people who say it is a bad idea to try to change our nation’s priorities because jobs would be lost. But the same amount of federal spending could create considerably more jobs in non-military sectors, as shown in a recent analysis by the University of Massachusetts.
We need the federal government to stimulate the economy and create lots of jobs, but jobs that provide utility to us — such as clean energy, infrastructure improvements, and transportation — rather than Cold War-era weapons systems that do not bring us any economic benefit.
As we shift away from excessive military spending and toward human and community needs, federal policy should include an economic conversion program to hold workers employed by military contractors and the communities that depend on them harmless. But we should stop defending a policy of massive military spending simply in order to protect existing jobs.
Jean Athey
Brookeville
