It's been more than a month since St. Clair Avenue developed a crack down the middle of the street on the southern boundary of the Medical Mart/Convention Center project. The crack runs from Ontario to East 6th Street. The pavement is filled in but the cause remains a mystery. Was it caused by brittle pavement, a one-time geological hiccup, or something else?
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Identifying the cause is necessary to remove any concerns about present or future impact on the $465 million taxpayer-funded project

Attorney Jeff Appelbaum is Cuyahoga County's counsel and MMPI's representative for the project. He says a lot of brainpower and technology have been thrown into action trying to learn what caused the crack and whether it's an issue that could repeat itself.

Appelbaum says tiltmeters, inclinometers, ground-penetrating radar and core borings have all been used to gather data. Some tests had to be repeated. All the data was to be collected last week with experts analyzing it this week.

"We still don't have a final conclusion as to the competing causes of the failure. ...It may be more complicated than you think and until all the results are in, we would just be speculating," Appelbaum said.

Appelbaum says construction continues uninterrupted and the project''s southern wall is unaffected. St. Clair has been reduced to a one-way eastbound street. No word when it will reopen fully.

The city says tests show water and sewer lines and utilities were not damaged. What about possible cost overruns or disagreements who will pay the cost of testing?

"We plan for a number of events. We are not concerned from the county's perspective that there will be an issue of cost overrun or delay that will affect taxpayers," Appelbaum said. He discusses the situation in this July 26 interview with Tom Beres.