Summary

On January 29, 2014, the FHWA suspended and proposed the debarment of Matthew Williams and Clear Span Construction Products (Clear Span) in response to charges filed against them for fraud related to the falsification of bridge deck plans and engineering drawings. 

Earlier in January 2014, based on an OIG investigation, Williams pleaded guilty and admitted that on multiple occasions and without authorization, he forged or affixed the seal and signature of unwitting Professional Engineers (P.E.) on bridge plans and transmitted these engineering documents, as required, to prime contractors on the FHWA funded projects. According to the guilty plea, Williams forged the engineers' seals by cutting and pasting, or "photo shopping" the P.E. certification seals onto new un-reviewed and unapproved deck form construction drawings. The investigation revealed that Williams submitted over 500 falsified documents on more than 75 federal and state funded highway projects in 13 states.