The Sandhogs continued

Larry McCloy decided to ask Roger Bonjovi and Arnie Thomas to support their recommendation with an analysis of the conditions under which leaks had occurred. They associated each instance of leakage with (a) the torque applied to bolts when initially assembling the joints where the leaks occurred and (b) the river's flow rate on that day as measured by the Columbia River Fisheries Commission. Figure 2a shows 26 leakage incidents associated with low-torque joints. There were no gushers associated with these joints. Bonjovi and Thomas also included in Figure 2a the average river flow rates for 8 multi-week periods when no leaks occurred while joints were being assembled with low-torque bolts; these periods are symbolized by short bars below the horizontal axis. Figure 2b shows 64 leakage incidents associated with high-torque joints, as well as the average river flow rates for three multi-week periods when no leaks occurred during high-torque assembly. Both gushers were associated with high-torque joints.

When they submitted these data, Bonjovi and Thomas emphasized that they had no observations corresponding to the very high flow rates that were predicted to occur during the coming days. It had been many years since the Columbia River had carried the volume of water that the weather service was predicting. The forecasted conditions would fall far outside "our envelop of experience," they said.

McCloy telephoned the liaison engineer at Midwest Castings, Joe Cullister, and outlined the situation. Cullister's first reaction was to advise caution; but after McCloy reviewed the financial and public-relations consequences of a shut down, Cullister said he wanted to consult others at Midwest Castings. Half and hour later, Cullister called back and told McCloy that Midwest Castings was recommending that The Sandhogs go ahead with the press conference and continue tunnel construction. Cullister added, "Engineers always try to err on the conservative side. If we would wait until every engineer agreed that everything is A-OK, we'd probably never build anything."

Should McCloy call off the press conference and shut down construction until after the spring melt?

Created by Bill Starbuck 10/97