Guess what? If you have a multi-billion-dollar contract with CalTrans and you commit several phenomenal fuckups while building a hugely important piece of infrastructure but still manage to basically finish on time even though "on time" in this case was about 15 years late in the grand scheme CalTrans will still give you your $49 million in bonuses because they just don't want to fight about it.
Yes, American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises is getting their $20 million bonus for completing the eastern span of the Bay Bridge on schedule last August, all thanks to a quick fix that was engineered to patch the major problem with the cracked steel bolts until a $30 million permanent fix was put in place in December. Plus they're getting $29 million in other bonuses and speed-up incentives, and according to Phil Matier (reporting for both CBS and the Chron), Caltrans says "paying the bonuses was better than having to fight with contractors over claims the agency contributed to the delays."
Thankfully, Caltrans is negotiating with the contractor to split the costs associated with the bad bolts, and the ongoing $10 million inspection of all the rest of the bolts on the bridge. And Caltrans executive director Steve Heminger notes that they still have some leverage over the contractor, after paying out the bonuses, because the contractor is still owed nearly $60 million for work that is either still incomplete or was not complete to the agency's satisfaction.
No one's yet talking about who should pay for the new leak problem. But sure, take your bonuses.
