Monorail fasteners were ordered replaced in April

Thursday, Oct. 7, 2004 | 8:42 a.m.

Monorail officials in April demanded the replacement of several fasteners used to hold a cable tray below the system's emergency walkway after they fell or became loose in high winds, Todd Walker, a spokesman for the monorail, said.

The fasteners, about two inches wide and weighing a few ounces, were installed by a subcontractor to Bombardier Inc., the company that built the trains. No one was injured and the subcontractor replaced the fasteners with stronger hardware, Walker said.

The hardware was used to secure a cable tray that ran below emergency walkways on each side of the elevated track, Walker said. The tray is used to route cables connecting automated ticket machines and platform communications to the monorail's control center east of the Sahara hotel.

The monorail, which opened July 15, was closed Sept. 8 after a two-pound industrial washer fell to the ground. The most recent closure came less than a day after the system reopened following a closure prompted by a wheel that fell off the week before.

Walker said monorail officials have not outlined a timetable for when the system will re-open but that an investigation will likely last through the end of the month.