Contractor Admits Silver Line Fraud: Report

RESTON, VA -- A contractor has admitted to falsifying concrete quality tests for the Metro Silver Line extension in a case that has profound implications for future stations in Reston and Herndon, according to a report.

The $5.8 billion Silver Line expansion would include stations at Reston Town Center, Herndon, and Dulles Airport and beyond. The contractor is accused of providing concrete panels to those stations that were not up to par, forcing them to be replaced.

“I falsified data recording for concrete testing for the air quality of the concrete, and I instructed others to do the same,” Andrew Nolan, 28, admitted in federal court in Alexandria according to a Washington Post report. Nolan faces up to five years in prison and he owes more than $700,000 in restitution.

Nolan was employed by Universal Concrete, which is being sued over its $6.1 million contract to provide the panels.

Attorneys allege that Universal Concrete knew of the falsifications as far back as February 2016, but instead of dealing with the issue, management fired the whistleblower who wanted an audit, according to the report.

More than 1,500 panels were produced by the company. WTOP reported back in May that of the 1,569 precast concrete panels Universal Concrete Products had provided, 308 had too much water mixed into them, and 167 of those defective panels had already been installed.

Image: Patch staff