Puget Sound's top 10 engineering bloopers

DUSTIN SNIPES / THE SEATTLE TIMES

1) Monorail collision
A Nov. 26 collision revealed that the monorail tracks are too close together at a spot near Westlake Center. The tight spot was created when the tracks were redesigned in 1988 to accommodate the mall, so the car drivers must yield to each other.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

2) Bus-tunnel tracks
Corners were cut on installing tracks when the downtown transit tunnel was built in 1988, saving less than $1.5 million. Now the tracks are being replaced so that they'll work with light rail, forcing downtown traffic to be rerouted. The project, in addition to the track replacement, includes other work needed to retrofit the tunnel for rail service and will cost $45 million. Managers knew the tracks may not work but didn't inform elected officials.

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

5) Hammering Man falls
The Hammering Man fell during the sculpture's 1991 installation at Seattle Art Museum. It turned out he was heavier than expected, exceeding a crane sling's weight limit. The only injury was to the Man's pride; he was repaired and erected the next year.

MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

7) Interstate 90 bridge sinks
The Interstate 90 bridge between Seattle and Mercer Island sank during a reconstruction project in 1990. Holes had been cut in the pontoons and left open. Contractors also used the pontoons to store wastewater they weren't allowed to dump in Lake Washington, and cracks may have let more water seep in. When the bridge settled low enough, water poured through the holes and down she went.

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES

8) Kingdome tiles fall
Soggy Kingdome ceiling tiles fell in 1994, leading to the cancellation of two Mariners games. Water had seeped through the roof while it was being repaired. It sounds minor in retrospect, but the debacle soured some sports fans on the dome and presaged calls for a new stadium. A few years later, the dome — an engineering marvel — was demolished and replaced with separate football and baseball stadiums costing more than $1 billion. In this photo from July 20, 1994, Kingdome employee Tom Long examines the roof above the 300 level, where ceiling tiles fell onto some seats.

VIC CONDIOTTY / THE SEATTLE TIMES

10) Slo-mo-shun backflips
Seattle's beloved Slo-mo-shun V hydroplane did a complete backflip during a qualifying run for the 1955 Gold Cup on Lake Washington. The builder had worried about the flighty design, but the boat was a champion that won Seattle's first unlimited hydro race in 1951 and the 1954 Gold Cup. After the wreck, Slo-mo V was repaired and raced as Miss Seattle, Berryessa Belle and Miss Tri-Cities. It's now owned by Bruce McCaw.