Gov't Center Station Rebuild

This is a terrible week for the T:

Government Center MBTA Station Glass Fogs Up, Needs To Be Replaced
By MIKE DEEHAN

Some or all of the glass for the new Government Center headhouse in Boston is defective and needs to be replaced, the MBTA's General Manager said Monday.

"Fairly soon people will start to see the glass that's been up for several months now removed, and the area covered with tarps to protect the interior from the weather as the glass is sent back to California to be remanufactured and reshipped out and reinstalled," said MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola.

During his comments to the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board, DePaola said there is an issue of workmanship in the glass and glazing of the structure now rising out of Government Center Plaza. According to DePaola, seals between panes of glass have failed, allowing moisture to get between them and causing fogginess to appear inside the windows.

DePaola said the project's contractor, Barletta Heavy Division, is fully responsible for workmanship issues and should cover the cost of replacing the panes, which will be done in batches.

"Those double pane windows, those seals have failed," DePaola said. "The inner gas has leaked out and moisture has gotten in, so if you look at many of them closely you'll see fogging on the inside of the window."

All defective glass will have to be replaced, MassDOT spokesman Mike Verseckes told WGBH News after DePaola's remarks, but it's unclear how many of the panels will need to come down. The replacement of the panes will not affect the expected Spring 2016 opening of the station, as Barletta will do the replacement work concurrently with the station's construction, DePaola said.

http://wgbhnews.org/post/government-center-mbta-station-glass-fogs-needs-be-replaced
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In case the potential GLX cancellation wasn't bad news enough, here's some more. At least it won't lead to any delays or cost overruns though.

http://wgbhnews.org/post/government-center-mbta-station-glass-fogs-needs-be-replaced

Government Center MBTA Station Glass Fogs Up, Needs To Be Replaced
By Mike Deehan

Some or all of the glass for the new Government Center headhouse in Boston is defective and needs to be replaced, the MBTA's General Manager said Monday.

"Fairly soon people will start to see the glass that's been up for several months now removed, and the area covered with tarps to protect the interior from the weather as the glass is sent back to California to be remanufactured and reshipped out and reinstalled," said MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola.

During his comments to the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board, DePaola said there is an issue of workmanship in the glass and glazing of the structure now rising out of Government Center Plaza. According to DePaola, seals between panes of glass have failed, allowing moisture to get between them and causing fogginess to appear inside the windows.

DePaola said the project's contractor, Barletta Heavy Division, is fully responsible for workmanship issues and should cover the cost of replacing the panes, which will be done in batches.

"Those double pane windows, those seals have failed," DePaola said. "The inner gas has leaked out and moisture has gotten in, so if you look at many of them closely you'll see fogging on the inside of the window."

All defective glass will have to be replaced, MassDOT spokesman Mike Verseckes told WGBH News after DePaola's remarks, but it's unclear how many of the panels will need to come down. The replacement of the panes will not affect the expected Spring 2016 opening of the station, as Barletta will do the replacement work concurrently with the station's construction, DePaola said.
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These panels should be under some sort of warranty that keeps the T from having to pay extra, right? For once I'd like to have a project done on time and on budget.
 
deh74 said:
These panels should be under some sort of warranty that keeps the T from having to pay extra, right? For once I'd like to have a project done on time and on budget.
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DePaola said the project's contractor, Barletta Heavy Division, is fully responsible for workmanship issues and should cover the cost of replacing the panes
Click to expand...

Though I don't know about the use of the wiggle-word "should".
 
Thank God there will be no pressure to use the headhouse for another 9 months.* Very prescient of the MBTA to ensure that this remodel was typically slow and painstaking. Gotta hand it to them.

*though I'm anticipating an apocalyptic escalator-related delay that pushes it to 2018.
 
That would probably be too dark & dismal.

John Hancock Place was like that when it was built. The windows kept on popping out and falling to the street below.

The problem there was that the building was swaying. A sliding damper had to be installed near the topmost floors to help counteract & keep the building from swaying too much. This took care of the problem, even though a window pain may fall out now & then.
 
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If the glass was built and installed to spec, then the cost of replacing it would be on the T's and/or the architect engineer. However, as it is apparently a manufacturing problem, shouldn't cost the T a penny. Whether it costs Barletta any money is another matter.
 
It's probably coming out of the performance bond or similar surety.
 
It certainly won't be placed like a hot potato on the taxpayers' laps. Thank God! This is THEIR screw-up, no one else's! :smile:
 
Arlington said:
Woulda been cool if they'd found a muralist to do Pompeii-style murals that incorporated all those fragmentary tile boarders and the irregularity of all the concrete layers.
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I'd be happy just to see them repair/renovate the "Scollay Under" mosaic using tiles rescued from those borders (which presumably will be covered up).
 
I find it rather surprising that the headhouse will be heated or cooled enough that insulated glazing was needed.
What idiot archijoke decided relying on natural ventilation for cooling was a bad idea? And why did the idiots at the MBTA allow them to go out to bid like that?

Throw a ton of money at a new headhouse and then through even more in every year to keep it temperate, I am truly shocked.
I should be used to it by know, but still, it never ceases to leave me nearly speechless.
 
At least it was caught in time before the station reopens. It is just too bad that all that work was done for nothing!
 
Glass replacement has begun:

https://twitter.com/mike_kix/status/641256442553569280

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