The final chapter on a very expensive mistake by the Washington State Ferry system is coming to a close.
For a bit of background, there is this October 10, 2013 article from Seattle station KING5:
Investigators: Millions spent on ferry generators that can’t be used
Inside a South Seattle warehouse, giant wooden crates contain an expensive mistake made by Washington State Ferries (WSF). Multi-million-dollar, high-powered generators that will never be used are sitting inside.
They were supposed to be installed on the ferries Kaleetan and Yakima. The new equipment would allow the boats to propel through the water using two engines instead of four. They were purchased to help save money on fuel costs.
Ferry design engineers conducted studies before ordering the new generators but they made a big mistake. They didn't do enough testing to realize the equipment would be too powerful to use on the boats. Connector cables on the two ferries can't handle generators that powerful. If installed they could cause an electrical explosion called an arc flash. An arc flash is a short circuit through air that flashes over from one exposed live conductor to another conductor or to ground. There are studies estimating arc explosions cause one to two deaths per day in the U.S.
The KING 5 Investigators obtained an internal state memo which says the generators would create a possible life-threatening incident... in locations where vessel personnel are likely to be present.
Without knowing about the potential danger, in 2006 WSF ordered nine generators from the Texas company TECO-Westinghouse.
So far the state has paid $1 million for four of the nine. When problems cropped up, the state threw more money at the project.
In 2007, a million dollars was spent on a design change.
Last year, they spent $100,000 on consultants hired to find ways to fix the mistake.
So far the cost to taxpayers is $2.1 million. That number could grow to millions more to pay TECO-Westinghouse for work already performed.
In 2008, ferry engineers began to suspect the generators were too powerful to be used. The state hired the engineering firm Siemens Energy and Automation to conduct an analysis.
In February2009, Siemens reported to WSF that, indeed, the switchgear on the boats could not handle that powerful of a generator.
State ferries didn t scrap the project just yet. They hired another consultant -the Seattle-based naval architectural firm Guido Perla and Associates-to look for ways to allow the generators to interface safely with the cable connectors.
On April 28, 2010, Guido Perla reported to the ferry system that nothing could be done: There is no viable, economically feasible device or technology that can safely (fix the problem), wrote Perla engineers.
It wasn t until three month later, in July, that state ferries officially told TECO-Westinghouse to pull the plug and stop all production.
Ferries Director of Vessel Maintenance Paul Brodeur signed off on the original order. He declined our requests for an interview.
Emphasis mine - no shit...
Anyway, the final chapter on this boondoggle is coming to a close - from the WA State Public Surplus website:
Auction #1448486 - Propulsion DC Generators (ct.9) 2300 kw (13-3195 #2 WSF) JF (At Agency Location)
DESCRIPTION:
The Washington State Department of Transportation Ferries Division, operating as Washington State Ferries (WSF), has nine (9) direct current (DC) generators for sale. The generators are new / never used. This auction is for the entire lot of nine (9) generators.
Generator Nos. 1 through 6 are complete, tested inspected and crated. Generator Nos. 7, 8 and 9 are completed to component level only and crated. Note: Generator Nos. 1 through 4 are stored at WSF's warehouse in Seattle, Washington. Generator Nos. 5 through 9 are stored at a warehouse in Longview, Washington.
WSF Purchase Summary:
WSF intended to replace the existing DC generators on the Super class ferries M.V. Kaleetan and M.V. Yakima with higher voltage DC generators to enable the vessels to operate on fewer engines to save fuel and reduce maintenance costs. To accomplish such upgrade, in 2006 WSF purchased nine (9) 2300 kw generators from Teco Westinghouse, at an aggregate price of $5.3 million. However, WSF subsequently discovered that the control system on the vessels would not support the higher voltage generators. Rather than upgrade the control system, WSF decided to sell the new generators and retain the existing control system and generators. The new generators are not restricted to a certain engine make / model. Any engine that meets the power requirements will work with modifications based on the end user’s needs.
Emphasis mine again - opening bid is $300,000 with no takers so this is 5.66% of the initial purchase price. Not surprising as each unit is essentially a custom one-off design and will not fit into any other situation without a lot of modification.
Wikipedia has a nice writeup on the Washington ferry system - it is heavily subsidized and the fares that people pay cover less than half the total cost of operation, maintenance and replacement.
Generators in question - field cage and rotor:
