A new BART Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report examines the failure of thousands of anchor bolts used on a BART infrastructure project and the quality-control breakdowns that contributed to the resulting waste.

The investigation found that critical documentation was not reviewed before fabrication, testing requirements were not fully completed, and approximately 30% of the anchors failed during installation.

Ultimately:

• About 7,500 (93%) original anchors were scrapped
• Roughly 72,000 pounds of steel were discarded
• $1.14 million had been spent on the original anchors
• $1.1 million in change orders were issued to remove and replace the failed anchors

The report highlights an important lesson: established controls are only effective when they are consistently followed and enforced.

We encourage you to review the summary video and full report for detailed insights.

Lessons Learned Anchor Bolt Failures & Quality Control Breakdown.pdf

Thank you for your continued interest in our work. For access to all BART Office of the Inspector General reports, please visit our website at www.bart.gov/oig.

Sincerely,

Claudette Biemeret
Inspector General
Email: InspectorGeneral@bart.gov
Phone: 510-464-6141