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SACRAMENTO-

Members of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge construction team met with the Senate Transportation Committee to respond to the Senate report released Thursday.

The 58-page brought up many concerns including fiscal responsibility, construction scheduling, and transparency. The public informational meeting was dubbed the “Lessons Learned” hearing.

Brian Kelly, the State Transportation Agency Secretary opened the hearing by admitting some of the findings in the report.

“Yes, mistakes were made. It was a human endeavor,” Kelly said.

“I guess I need to regain the trust of the Senator, then the public. But I have some ground to make up,” Caltrans Director, Malcolm Dougherty said

Among the most discussed issues was transparency. The report said there was some sort of cover-up by the bridge managers, who “attempted to keep any serious allegations quiet.”

In response, the Chief Engineer of the project, Brian Maroney, brought and showed documentation to the committee, saying they tried to be as transparent and unbiased as possible.

“I have evidence for you, on some of the things that have been commented on. I try. I did the best job I can do. I tried to document all perspectives,” Maroney said.

“People disagreed on how to move forward with some of the technical aspects of the bridge at different times,” Dougherty said. “And there is nothing wrong with that. But certainly retaliation and suppressing any kind of conversation is not okay.”

The report also stated that Chinese contractor was given millions of tax payer dollars to increase the speed of construction, which may have caused the infamous cracks in the bridge.

It is still undetermined if criminal charges will be filed, until the completion of a third party CHP investigation.

The investigation they are doing is administrative,” Senator Mark DeSaulnier, Committee Chairman said. “And if there are still unanswered questions, they are the ones to determine if there is criminality and prosecution.”

The one thing all parties repeatedly agreed on was the fact that the Bay Bridge is the safest it has ever been. Since its creation in 1939 and its recovery after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake where a section of the bridge collapsed, the steel in the bridge is built to withstand much more seismic activity. Caltrans representatives said with regular maintenance, it should last at least 150 years.