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comment by kleinbl00
kleinbl00  ·  2572 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Wall - a longform analysis

Up here in Seattle, if you follow our ridiculous tunnel with any sincerity, you tend to find quotes from a guy named Bent Flyvbjerg (I think he's from France). The exact quote is on pp 3.

Of 40 megaprojects:

- 1 was under budget

- 5 were within 20% of budget

  - overruns of 50-100% are common




veen  ·  2572 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Flyvbjerg is a well-regarded name in transportation literature. One of my professors actually co-wrote the thrilling sequel to that book. While megaprojects tend to overrun far beyond originally perceived costs, infrastructure projects in general and averaged over decades go 'only' 20-25% over budget.

cgod  ·  2572 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yea, that was on my list.

The Big Dig is another.

The FBI case management system.

The California Court computer upgrade is another.

kleinbl00  ·  2572 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I thought the champion was the Sydney Opera House, at 10 years behind schedule and 1400% over budget. Apparently the honor belongs to Olympic Stadium, Montreal.

elizabeth

elizabeth  ·  2572 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yeah, that's why we call it the white elephant :( It's a very visible reminder of everything that's wrong with the construction business in the city...

WanderingEng  ·  2571 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Nuclear power plants are always good money pits. My personal favorite is Marble Hill that went from an estimated $1.4B to $7B and was abandoned after spending $2.5B. Not quite the same thing because it was never finished.

Are you still paying for the Washington Public Power Supply System nuclear abandonments from 1982?

goobster  ·  2571 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well, Hanford Cleanup still continues to this day... with infrequent moments of true panic...

Footnote: An ex-girlfriend's grandfather was rehired a few years ago to go back out to the site and try to retrace his late-night nuclear-waste-burying escapades. Apparently his bosses would get him up in the middle of the night, put him in the backhoe, then they'd drive randomly out into the desert, dig a hole, drop some barrels in, cover it up all nice and pretty (and hard to see), and leave.

They now have him on salary again, going out and trying to recreate those late night unmapped trips from 40 years ago...

kleinbl00  ·  2571 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You mean my buddy Satsop? I think that one's finally off the books, or else Gray's Harbor County would probably be paying a lein on the $3k a day they're not getting for location fees.