Exclusive: Firm that worked on past Reflecting Pool renovation passed on Trump project after deeming it 'unfeasible'

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. trump taking the Beast and other vehicles may have played a role in the failure

This is from the article cited in the OP

Online commentators have also speculated that the bottom of the pool may have been affected by the presence of heavy equipment and trucks — and a presidential motorcade that drove through at one point — shortly after the coating was applied.

Ravi Kurani, President of Standard Water Corp, an industrial technology company, told CNN he would never recommend driving cars out onto a pool surface, especially when renovations are being done.

“It’s like you’re putting flooring on your kitchen floor and then you’re take a really heavy tractor on top of it – it’s going to mess it up a little bit.”

Tim Auerhahn, a pool infrastructure expert and the chairman of the Aquatic Council, a consulting firm , said over email there isn’t enough information to definitively conclude that the vehicle traffic caused damage, but “it is one of several factors that should be considered as part of a comprehensive failure analysis.”

Auerhahn added that, “It’s important not to focus on a single theory too early.”