Capitalism works, even in a Communist state.
The contractors received a $300,000 bonus for finishing ahead of schedule.
The original timetable called for a 5am Monday morning reopening of the 405.
Very weird how light the traffic actually was. Looks like people just stayed home.
>>Capitalism works, even in a Communist state.<<
As for the early completion, yes. The contractor originally said it was a 24 hour “dig” but then, wisely IMHO, fudged. He got $300K for free, we got our Freeway back, God is in His House smiling upon all.
As for the non-event “Carmageddon”: it was complicated — you would need Hari Seldon to figure out what happened to result in nothing happening.
It is the 1984 L.A. Olympics effect.
A combination of early warning, dire warning, L.A. laid-back thinking and hatred of traffic worse than day to day, and a myriad factors (especially the more complex “even if it looks great now, stay home” message).
And you in L.A. (I will be moved to Texas by then) are on notice this will happen again in 11 months. The variables on THAT are even more complex, given what didn’t happen this time.
Funny what sort of miracles happen when government unshackles the free market, eh?
Same thing happened when contractors had to rebuild the La Brea Ave overpass on the 10 freeway, after the ‘94 quake. Done on time, and under budget, due to financial incentives/disincentives.
Demolition Time Lapse Videos:
http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/more-mulholland-bridge-demolition-time-lapse-video-20110716
Not wishing ill of this particular contractor, but anyone who has been involved in bidding for competitive contracts KNOWS that the cheapest or the best is not necessarily the one that wins. I am willing to bet that the time factor was overestimated by LA or the State, whoever.
Agreed. The power of incentives. Also, Caltrans probably wanted a schedule with padding so that if anything went wrong there was time to recover. If a schedule that promised completion in 36 hours had not been met, there would be criticism and political ramifications. There would probably be hearings into the “fiasco” and lawsuits that may go nowhere, but make a lot of noise and cost lots of money. Probably much more than $300K. So a longer schedule and lots of warning, along with the incentives worked out well for all involved. (And my commute tomorrow morning will be OK....)