Medical Center investigating "9-volt battery" leakage
Metro spokeswoman Raequel Roberts may not be concerned with stray current, but Texas Medical Center officials are concerned enough that the foundations of several hospitals and related buildings are being checked for damage (in a KHOU-11 follow-up story):
“The thing is it’s relentless,” said Stephen Swinson, President of Thermal Energy Corporation. “It’s like shore erosion. It’s like every day. Every wave.”
Since Metro revealed its electrical problem 18 months ago, the Texas Medical Center is conducting its first comprehensive test to see if hospital foundations are now in trouble.
Swinson and the Thermal Energy Corporation are leading this investigation for a number of clients in the Medical Center. He says tests show above average levels of stray current in the area when Metro’s light rail is in operation.
Over the last couple weeks Swinson says engineers have tested almost a dozen medical buildings including foundations of the Texas Children’s Hospital, Methodist Hospital, St. Luke’s Medical Tower, and the University of Texas Health Science Center among others.
“Today there’s not danger of a building collapsing,” Swinson said, “But is there going to be future significant cost associated with having to reinforce structural members and things like that? It’s a possibility.”
And then Roberts' dismissive quote is used again, about the electricity leakage being akin to what a 9-volt battery would discharge. Uh huh. If that were true, Centerpoint Energy wouldn't be spending money replacing metal pipes near the Danger Train line, and Metro wouldn't have already spent close to $1 million trying to determine the extent of the problem.
And now the TMC is having a look at its buildings' foundations.
PREVIOUSLY: TMC: Metro needs to fix "stray current" problem
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 11/22/06 04:35 AM | Houston Transit | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (11)
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