About four months ago 17 cracks were discovered in the newly laid rail of the Phoenix light rail system. The cracks ranged in size from about half an inch to seven inches. This lead to all sorts of speculation on inept planning and design, inevitable delays, safety issues, and skyrocketing construction costs.
Fortunately, the source of the problem has been identified and sounds like it will be contained to relatively few areas along the rail route. After laying rail, construction crews used high temperature “plasma torches” to cut sections of the rail to install drainage openings. The torches are too hot for the rail and alter the metallurgical qualities of the metal making it prone to cracking with temperature fluctuations (like 120 degree summers and 30 degree winters). The fix is to remove and replace the sections of the rail that had been cut by the torches. The City of Phoenix is looking to the design firm of the system to reimburse her for the cost of the study to determine the problem and the costs to rectify it.
