How do some people sleep at night?

From the WWL TV website (which includes the video), A contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has apparently filled the expansion joint (or opening) between the floodwalls) with newspaper.

When confronted, the contractor blamed Washington for the substandard work.

“He basically told me when Congress sent down the money, it would be repaired the proper way.”

Ercon Corporation, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, had a contract to do the almost $2 million of work to raise and repair the floodwall under the Paris Road bridge.
Eyewitness News contacted the president of Ercon Corporation by phone and e-mail. He didn't respond to our repeated requests for a comment on this story. Further, our investigation revealed Ercon Corporation is not even licensed by the state's board for contractors. The Corps of Engineers says as long as the federal government pays for the work, it does not prevent them from hiring an unlicensed Louisiana company.

Schroeder has some interesting opinions on this subject

Celcus chimes in.....

More at Library Chronicles and YRHT.

UPDATE:
The Corps will now repair the wall .


After initially telling Eyewitness News a Lafayette based company did the work on those joints, the corps now says the work was done by laborers hired by the corps.


"Stuffing newspaper in that joint should not have been done," Bedey said. "In the very near future we will repair all three joints and put the proper backing next to the waterstop."


Bedey reiterated the findings of the report last night that the newspaper would cause no structural damage to the wall.


riiiiiight.

Thanks to Lee Zurik