Well, the "We don't have time to find someone else!" excuse

got us a tax-cheat Treasury Secretary, now "We don't have a lot of time" gets the bridge panels moving.
Inspectors hired by Caltrans to monitor the fabrication of steel girders that will support the tower's roadway reported finding cracked welds last year, Caltrans records show.

The discovery has raised the question whether Bay Area taxpayers are getting a substandard product that could wear out prematurely and require costly repairs in a decade or two.

Caltrans and others in charge of the bridge construction say the welds are safe and that fixes have been made - but also say the inspectors interpreted the welding standards too rigidly.

Meanwhile, the inspection outfit that sounded the alarm has since been replaced.
I'm not an engineer, and this may not be that big a deal; but as a layman who knows a little bit about welding and steel, my first thought is "How do you get too strict on welding standards on a big effing bridge?"

Got to tell you, if I had to drive on this bridge, this would not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about it. Especially with the comment from one of the officials that 'we're racing the next earthquake."