Coliseum Press Box OKd for Occupancy

After months of controversy, officials said Wednesday that suitable repairs have been made to defective welds in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum press box and that they have obtained a city occupancy permit.

Coliseum Commission General Manager Patrick T. Lynch called the permit “the best piece of paper I’ve seen in a long time.” The document, he said, “is our ultimate stamp of approval that the press box is safe.”

Nabih Youssef, the structural engineer who designed the press box, oversaw its construction and ultimately controlled the scope of the recent repairs, did not attend a meeting of the commission Wednesday. Another engineer retained by the commission, John A. Martin Jr., said in a letter presented by Lynch that the defective welds “that required repairs, as determined by [Youssef], have been repaired.”

According to city officials, Youssef on Tuesday afternoon did what he had not done since the press box was opened for use one year ago: He certified with his signature that the 40-yard-long structure “was constructed in conformity with the approved design.”

With that certification in hand, city officials issued the occupancy permit “in a matter of seconds,” according to Russell E. Lane, chief city building inspector.

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The weld repairs followed a May 5 Times article that first reported the numerous problems experienced during construction of the structural-steel press box, which overhangs more than 600 spectator seats.

Lane and another city inspection official, Donald G. Hubka, said the controversy--including the discovery after the article was published that there were defects in 26% of the press box welds that were tested--will prompt them to insist on more vigilant quality control on other projects.

“Out of all this, we’re watching our [inspection reports] more closely, to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing and we’re receiving the reports in a timely fashion,” Hubka said.

Top city engineering and inspection officials allowed the press box to open a year ago without either a temporary or a permanent occupancy permit, to accommodate the beginning of the college football season.

“The fact that we allowed them [the Coliseum Commission] to continue using it without a permit, that fell through the cracks,” Lane said. “We should have jumped in there sooner.”

But the occupancy permit could not be issued before Youssef certified the construction. And Youssef had withheld his approval, citing eight structural issues involving items not in conformance with contract documents. Those issues were in addition to the welds found to be defective.

At Wednesday’s Coliseum Commission meeting, Lynch praised the original general contractor, Ronald N. Tutor, for deploying crews “around the clock” in recent weeks to complete the structural repairs. The defective welds were repaired by the lead steel subcontractor for the original work, Washington Iron Works of Gardena. According to those familiar with the repairs, at least some of the defective welds were produced at a San Bernardino steel shop operated by a separate subcontractor, Herrick Corp.

Referring to the repairs, Lynch said: “This is as far as we can go. This is it.”

Still, the recently concluded remedial efforts at the Coliseum did not involve disputed parts of three vertical box columns that were first rejected but ultimately accepted by inspectors during construction last year without a repair called for by the project’s structural engineer.

Responding to a June 28, 1996, Times article reporting the original handling of the columns, Martin and Youssef told the Coliseum Commission on Aug. 7 that they consider the box columns to be safe. Youssef, however, at one point said, “We should test at least one” of the three box columns.

The commission voted 5 to 3 at that meeting to reject county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s suggestion that Martin be directed to oversee the testing of the box columns.

On Wednesday, Yaroslavsky said he remains dissatisfied with the commission’s response to the weld controversy.

“It’s been as though the Coliseum has come to the defense of the contractor instead of to the defense of the general public,” he said. “The lack of testing of the box columns is only the last of the series of inexplicable acts.”

Martin, whose firm helped oversee the recent testing and repairs, had said last month that he intended to submit a report documenting those efforts before Wednesday’s meeting. Reached by phone late in the day, Martin said, “We anticipate filing a report.” The breadth of it, he said, will be determined in consultation with the Coliseum Commission.

“They’re my client . . . so I will come up with whatever they want,” Martin said.

Neither Martin’s one-page letter to the commission nor inspection reports filed with the city over the past week described the nature of the weld defects. Experts who analyzed the recent inspection data at the request of The Times said the defects, concentrated particularly in so-called wing plates that help suspend the cantilevered press box, appear to be both linear voids, attributable to a lack of fusion between the weld and its surrounding steel, and inclusions of slag. Either defect, they said, can provide a starting point for cracks.

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Not discussed during Wednesday’s meeting was whether the Coliseum Commission will seek remuneration from any contractors or consultants for the recent testing and repairs of the weld defects. The commission has already paid nearly $44,000 for the efforts, according to Chief Administrative Officer Margaret Farnum. She and Lynch said the total expenses are expected to exceed $100,000.

Yaroslavsky said after the meeting that he will push his colleagues to seek payments from any party responsible for the defective welds.

“I think the contractors ought to be financially responsible,” said Yaroslavsky, who also criticized those who were aware of problems during the construction but did not report them to the nine-member commission.

Another commissioner, Lisa Specht, asked Lynch to confer with city officials to ensure that matters reported in a Times article Wednesday will not affect the occupancy permit. The article reported that inspection document entries rejecting several welds were later marked as accepted without the knowledge of the inspectors involved.

Also Wednesday, the commission was told by a consultant it hired to expedite federal and state reimbursements for the facility’s overall earthquake repairs that the state will pay $4.6 million of the $9.4 million it still owes by Sept. 11.

So far, the federal government has paid $84.3 million of its $88.1-million share of the repairs of damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The consultant, Jerry Quinn, said the rest of the amounts the Coliseum will eventually receive will not be paid until the repairs are certified complete and all audits are concluded. The total repair and restoration expenses are about $98 million.

Times staff writer Kenneth Reich contributed to this report.