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Prosecutors Question Tests of Concrete in City Buildings By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM Published: June 21, 2008 Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether the leading concrete testing company in the New York area, which has been hired to measure and analyze the strength of the concrete poured at some of the biggest construction projects in the city, failed to do some tests and falsified others,... [more]

Prosecutors Question Tests of Concrete in City Buildings By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM Published: June 21, 2008 Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether the leading concrete testing company in the New York area, which has been hired to measure and analyze the strength of the concrete poured at some of the biggest construction projects in the city, failed to do some tests and falsified others, officials involved in the inquiry said on Friday. The investigation has uncovered problems with tests the company conducted on concrete poured over the last 18 months at the new Yankee Stadium site in the Bronx and the foundation of the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan, along with as many as a dozen other large projects, several of the officials said. The investigation has also raised questions about past work done by the company, Testwell Laboratories Inc., at a wide range of sites around the city. Construction and inspection practices in the city are already under scrutiny as a result of a series of fatal accidents and arrests on corruption charges. The Yankees and the developer of the team’s new stadium, along with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is building the Freedom Tower, said the concrete used for their structures had been determined to be sound and posed no safety threat. But they acknowledged that they had questions about the company’s work. The testing of concrete by companies like Testwell is one of the most basic safety measures used for all sorts of construction projects in the city, from apartment houses to bridges. The companies, both at job sites and in their testing facilities, are supposed to conduct a range of tests to make sure that the concrete was properly mixed and set, and that it meets industry standards for strength and durability. The investigation centers on allegations that the company in some instances failed to do preliminary tests, including some known as slump tests, and later falsified the results of more sophisticated compression tests, officials said. Lawyers for Testwell defended the company and its work. They said its officials had done nothing wrong and had cooperated with investigators, who on Wednesday took some 200 boxes of documents and computers from Testwell’s main office in Ossining, N.Y., as well as from a trailer at Yankee Stadium and another office in Queens. “They are quite confident that at the end of whatever this investigation is, it will show that they have done their job correctly and honestly,” said one of the lawyers, Martin B. Adelman. The stadium in the Bronx, being built at a cost of about $1.2 billion — much of it financed with tax-exempt bonds — is to open in 2009. The Freedom Tower, being constructed at the site of the former World Trade Center, will be the city’s tallest building if it is finished as planned. According to city records, Testwell has roughly $8 million in city contracts to conduct tests on materials, some used for municipal construction projects. It is unclear what impact the investigation would have on other projects under way — or those completed — that relied on work by Testwell. The city’s Buildings Department said in a statement that it would “take enforcement action based upon the findings of law enforcement.” In addition to its work measuring the strength of concrete, Testwell also performs tests on steel and tests for the presence of asbestos and prosecutors were looking into at least one incident in each of those areas, an investigator said. In one, a worker died last year when he fell through the floor of a landmark building in the West Village where officials believe Testwell had failed to ensure the proper shoring work had been done, the investigator said. In another, the company did tests for asbestos at LaGuardia Community College in 2000 and certified that a building there was clean, but later tests found that there was asbestos present, the investigator said. The investigation, by the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, began as a result of irregularities uncovered by monitors hired by the Yankees and by the Port Authority, as well as by the authority’s own engineers, according to law enforcement officials and people involved in both projects. The inquiry began five months ago and now involves the city’s Department of Investigation and Buildings Department, as well as inspectors general from the Port Authority, the School Construction Authority and the State Dormitory Authority. One investigator said prosecutors hoped to begin presenting evidence to a grand jury soon. The company, formed 40 years ago, is one of a small number that perform concrete testing in the New York area. It employs more than 200 people, according to business records, and reported nearly $20 million in sales last year. One of the company’s lawyers, Mr. Adelman, said it had in recent years employed an independent monitor, Ronald Goldstock, to ensure the integrity of its work. All concrete that is delivered to construction sites is tested by firms hired by the owners or builders. When concrete trucks leave their batching plants, paperwork is time-stamped, and the time is again noted when they arrive at a job site. The tests are typically conducted by pouring concrete into cylinders 12 inches long and 6 inches in diameter, which are kept on the job site, in the same environmental conditions as the poured concrete. The samples are then sent to laboratories, where the strength is tested. Concrete cures — and its strength increases — over time, and tests are performed at 14 days, 28 days and 56 days. Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for the Yankees, said that a company hired by the team to monitor the stadium project, a common practice in large construction endeavors in an effort to uncover fraud and abuse, discovered problems with Testwell’s work and began its own internal investigation. The monitor, Ed Stier of Thacher Associates, took the information he developed about the tests to the authorities. Ken Belson contributed reporting. [less]