Jerome Williams DOT director thinks that the concrete is strong enough and safe.Fact is someone did not deliver concrete that should have been and the FHA is doing their job. Jerome should be fired with no compensation and Cardi Corp. should be fined whatever the State has to pay back to the FHA. If they refuse they should not be allowed to bid on State contracts in the future. Enough already.Where is the Governor and our illustrious leaders in the State House on this

"Jerome F. Williams, the DOT's director, acknowledged that the agency had not complied with federal requirements."

With a comment like this, Jerome Williams should be terminated. If they did not comply with the federal requirements then he did not comply with his job requirements and is costing the taxpayers monies that we do not have, there needs to be accountability. This was not a mistake or and oversight, it is just pure laziness and lack of management.

And Mr. Williams just looked and could tell the concrete was good?? Maybe someone should explain that there are required safeguards in place for a reason. As DOT director Mr Williams did not do his job. He should be fired.

Thanks Jerome, it is about time someone had the guts to face an issue that has going on for for years. Unfortunately now it going to cost the taxpayers money. Who was incharge of 195 all those years? Is he still in charge? He should give up his salary for all those years, or is he "connected"?

Why blame Mr. Williams, he has only been there for a year. What about the guy in charge out there. Last new article I read it is a guy named Caroseli. Where is he in this, blaming someone else? Come on big boy, pony up, how much did you get paid to look the other way?

So, for the next 50 years we'll have the pleasure of throwing piles of money into repairing holes in that 'safe' concrete?

I'm looking to move somewhere that can handle it's infrastructure properly. I hear Tikrit, Iraq is nice this time of year.

I hate this state.

WHERE WERE ALL THE INSPECTORS? A sample of every load (every truck) is supposed to be taken for testing? Were there continuous pours? What was the cure time? Williams may be new to his job, but he has been in construction, time to check the site time sheets and assignments for the other DOT workers on that job.

As a taxpayer, I am concerned with some of the points brought up by the comments already posted. Is the design meant to last 50 years and now will only last 10 years because of the concrete not meeting design specifications?Meaning additional tax dollars will be needed to repair the structures way before its time? Who will benefit from this? the taxpayer? or the construction companies awarded the repair jobs? Everyone one is bringing up remarks about Mr. Williams but what about the previous director and the people in charge of the project who probably told Mr. Williams everything was fine. Didn't Mr. Williams inherit these problems? what about the previous director's responsibility while in office? The real question is what will be done about these noncompliant activities? It is one thing to acknowledge the problem and repay the funds and another to truly fix the problem of inadequate testing and not penaltizing contractors for material not meeting design specifications. Are the inspectors and managers that didn't do their jobs (the adequedate testing or check to insure that adequate testing being performed) going to stay on the job or be moved to another job where they will do the same thing on another job? or will they be duly dealt with for their part up to and including being fired like if they worked in private industry? This really needs to be addressed or is this state as one commenter stated so "connected" that nothing effective can be done.

I'd like someone from DOT to explain why we don't seem to use the same bid and bond system of hiring contractors that Massachusetts uses. Why is Cardi the default contractor? Who's getting rich off that deal? Maybe if the ProJo did some investigative journalism once in a while instead of just writing pro-illegal alien puff pieces it would make a good story. Or should we just wait for Jim Hummel to do it?

Someother blogger commented that Cardi's concrete was tested and found to meet specs in Mass and Ct. I read in an earlier Projo article about Rt 403 concrete where Ct DOT commented that they have concrete removed that doesn't meet spec, but they can't understand why this isn't done in RI. Well the point here is that if the contractors know that there being watched and tested, then they tend to do a good job and supply good concrete. On the other hand, if they know testing isn't being done or if nobody is watching, hey, we all know they cut corners. They're only as honest as they're being tested and inspected. If nobody is watching and testing, how old is the concrete? is it watered down like in the Big Dig? does it even have the right amount of cement in it? The answer is that they don't know because they didn't inspect or test properly. As far a Jerome Williams goes, can't you all see that he only inherited this problem. Like the incoming President inherits the outgoing Prez's problems. Look at past Director's and Chiefs for the cause, and not to mention their prized underlings whom they groom to take over someday. And FHA is only doing what the Feds have been criticized for lately, for not doing their jobs like in Katrina or in the Big Dig. It's about time the Feds stepped up to the plate and finally cracked down. RIDOT should just take their medicine and get over themselves.