The cellblocks of the Smithfield state prison at Huntingdon in Central Pennsylvania are so flawed and dangerous that they risk imminent catastrophic collapse according to the man who built them. William Best of Altoona was the masonry subcontractor who built the State Correctional Institution at Smithfield in 1988. He has produced compelling evidence that cellblocks "A" through "H" were not constructed according to the plans approved by the state General Services Department when the construction contract was let. According to Mr. Best who is now retired and concerned that he might be held accountable for a catastrophe, after the plans were approved and construction was started, the general contractor paid bribes to the state inspectors so that they would ignore dangerous changes in the construction. With photos and other evidence, Mr. Best shows that in each of the 8 cellblocks, 59 important, but costly building supports were omitted. The supports were designed to assure that the building and the 8 inch thick concrete roofing slabs didn't collapse. The steel which had been designed into the structure was also omitted by the contractor so that the remaining supporting members were not properly married into the roofing slabs. The steel, 10 truckloads if it, was removed from the construction site. Mr. Best has video of the removal of the steel and its transport to Altoona in 1989. The steel, still labeled with the places in the prison where it was intended to be installed, was sold and/or used on other, private jobs. According to Mr. Best, the heavy roofing slabs were designed to overlap their supports by 5 inches. In cheating on the construction, the overlap was reduced to a mere 5/8 inch. That's such a tiny margin that, over time, the movement of the building from seasonal and environmental changes, snow and wind load and so forth may cause a separation. The blocks are built in such a way that when one roofing slab falls, the others will follow like dominoes. Some of the cellblocks, such as "A-Block" were built on standing water. Even today, water frequently floods parts of the blocks. The hydraulic dynamics of the water threatens to shift the structures enough to cause a catastrophic collapse. Already there is serious settling and cracking in the floors and supports and serious separation between parts of the buildings. What will happen in a few more years? Each of the effected cellblocks was designed to hold the weight and activity of only 64 prisoners. Today the buildings are grossly overloaded, housing 128 prisoners and, during a day, about 12 employees. Although the Department of Corrections and the prison administration has been aware of the dangers for several years, neither has conducted investigations, inspections or tests. Nothing has been done to assure the safety of the staff or the inmates. Worst of all, the authorities have refused to even warn the staff or the public of the very real dangers. We are forced to wonder where the trail of graft ended. Illustration 1: The detail of a part of the construction plan showing where steel reinforcement were omitted. Illustration 2: Illustration 3: A photograph of the effects under a foundation in the area which has been undermined by water exposing and weakening a foundation.