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Tuesday, May 21, 2002

By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The director of the Sports & Exhibition Authority refused yesterday to discuss whether the cutting of steel locking nuts played a role in the Feb. 12 collapse of a steel truss at the new convention center.

"This is a matter that's under federal investigation" by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, said authority Director Stephen Leeper. "We should let the people who are professional in this area do their investigation. We would be irresponsible to make comments about it."

Leeper insisted that the construction site between Penn Avenue and the Allegheny River is safe. One worker was killed and two others were injured in February in the collapse of the truss, which was in the 13th line of 15 lines of columns that will support the building.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette disclosed last week that some of the locking nuts being used on the bolts in line 13 had been sliced in half. The "cut nuts" were found at the construction site.

These 1-inch sliced nuts, which are silver in color, might have been used to hold into place other nuts --2 inches thick, made of blackened, hardened steel. The black nuts screw onto and fasten in place the long, threaded bolts that connect the steel trusses to the building's concrete foundation.

Exactly what role the 1-inch "cut nuts" played in the Feb. 12 collapse isn't known. OSHA officials plan to release their findings Aug. 12. A coroner's inquest into the collapse is set for June. 5.

The cause of the collapse is "being reviewed very seriously," Leeper said. "All the information we need to do the investigation successfully has been gathered.

"We have done what we needed to do as a public agency to make sure things are safe on the [construction] site. We believe we have a safe site, a safe building and a great design. We are trying to move forward."

Leeper said he couldn't say if the building's ultimate cost would exceed the current estimate of $354 million.

He said it likely would depend on how many options are added. He is trying to obtain state and federal funds to build a park between the convention center and the Allegheny River.