I am amazed that a 27,000 square foot concrete floor pour could be so poorly handled (News-Times, Oct. 29, “School floor has costly crack-up”). I am asking the question, where is the inspection, or quality control personnel, when setting the screeds, and during the pour itself, to insure proper mix design, depth of concrete and proper placement and finish of the concrete?

Inspection of the project is required to insure that the school district, and the taxpayer, are getting what they paid for, and so the contractor cannot do faulty work that has to be redone in the future.

The contractor blames the laser screed for the error, but the inspection should have caught the problem of the thickness of 2-inches instead of 4-inches as per the design. The laser machine should have had a current calibration tag on it, before it is to be used in the contractor’s work.

The contractor is replacing the floor at his expense and making up the contract time loss because he has to, since the concrete floor failed and is breaking up due to their improper workmanship. If the incorrect thickness of the floor slab was overlooked, the expense of removing the concrete in the future, and correctly installing it, would be at the expense of the taxpayers.

If this type of workmanship is going on with the concrete work, I wonder that other areas in the construction of the building are overlooked. I hope the taxpayers are getting quality work and materials for what the contract calls for.

Mel Zylstra

Coupeville