Audit finds more problems with Mississippi River ferry contracts
by Paul Rioux - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Irregularities in contracts to repair Mississippi River ferries subsidized by Crescent City Connection tolls were more widespread than initially disclosed when a bridge engineer was fired last year, according to a legislative audit released Monday. The unidentified engineer was fired in April 2011 after a state Department of Transportation and Development investigation concluded the engineer had approved two projects totaling $630,000 without contracts and allowed work to begin on eight other projects totaling nearly $250,000 before contracts were executed. The seven-page audit highlighted an additional 11 contracts worth a total of $444,000 that weren't executed until after work began. The audit also found that shortly after several no-bid contracts were signed, change orders were approved that increased the value of the contracts beyond the maximum for no-bid contracts.