Whose bright idea? (Boondoggle: Changing the lightbulbs at NJ’s new Frank Lautenberg Station)

The Bergen Record ^ | Thursday, April 13, 2006 | JOHN CICHOWSKI

[dead]

"It's standard operating procedure," insisted Tom Gallo, the station's operations manager. "It's no different from the kind of maintenance they do at malls."

Oh yeah, they cut holes in the ceilings of malls all the time, and rent a crane to lower another crane to change the light bulbs every few months. And the taxpayers pay for it too. I’m pretty sure.

An inefficient, outrageously expensive, boondoggle is a fitting tribute to that corrupt reanimated corpse of a Senator. No doubt his handler Torricelli gets a cut of the crane rental fees and the carpentry work. You just hand him the brown paper bag of cash and begin sawing.

[martin_fierro]

[Lekker 1]

The Carpenters union, the Electricians union, AND the Crane Operators union all got a piece of this one.

[mtbopfuyn]

Of course, no one thought about a cherry picker.

[Crispus Attucks Patriot]

Excuse me? The Frank Lautenberg Station?

[nuconvert]

Why does he have a rail station named after him?

[Neverforget01]

An inefficient, outrageously expensive, boondoggle is a fitting tribute to that corrupt reanimated corpse of a Senator

That was so good I hope you don't mind me highlighting it!!

[alice_in_bubbaland]

LOL! It figures! I have been driving past the Lautenberg Rail Station for the past 9 years. It's has only been within the past year that they have constructed a ramp off the Turnpike to get to it! BTW the cost to build the rail station was 400 million! What a boondoggle!

[dead]

Because he died tragically a couple years back. They didn't want to pay for his grave, so they shipped his corpse off to the Senate and named the station after him.

Don't worry, everybody that had to be paid got paid. That's how its done. Don't ask questions.

[Bob]

"Architects design these beautiful buildings and they don't think about how you're going to maintain them," said Control's district manager, Peter Manetti.

That's ridiculous. Only a bureaucrat could make such an incredibly stupid utterance. (Unless, of course, we're talking about architechs who are government employees. In that case, he may possibly be correct.)

[dead]

Yeah, apparently they built a ramp off the turnpike so you can easily drive to the rail station, and then didn't provide any public parking at the station.

"Parking?! What the f*#k for?! I got a limo!"
- Bob Torricelli

[D-Chivas]

Sooooo typical of taxpayer-financed government projects: they don't care about maintenance costs down the road, much less if their design is prone to be faulty (skylights are ALWAYS disasters!).

[sittnick]

Calling Dr. John Robinson! Calling Dr. John Robinson!

[motzman]

[CertainInalienableRights]

What does it take to change light bulbs on the 75-foot rotunda ceiling of the massive Secaucus rail station?...

First, a large crane was rented to hoist a smaller crane, known as a Denka Lift, onto the roof of the station, Gallo said. The lift was rolled though a hole cut in the roof onto a makeshift ramp and into a storage room. A doorway was cut out of a wall to give the crane access to the corridor that leads to the rotunda.

Ok, so according to Denka Lift's site,

"This amazing aerial lift accesses heights of up to 91 feet, yet passes through a 36 inch wide door (Atrium Series). The 91 foot model and the 81 foot model weigh 5650 pounds and 4950 pounds respectively, making it the lightest weight aerial lift in the world in its height range."

So why is it they couldn't get it into the building other than through the roof? Worse case, if there wasn't a door, how about via the train tracks?

Or what about taking the machine apart and reassembling it inside?

[CertainInalienableRights]

I can't remember how to post a pic (and its a large one) but here's a layout of the station:

http://www.teterboro-online.com/images/trans/sts/map.jpg

[bennowens]

Sounds like good "Training".

[bondjamesbond]

A relatively busy day at the Secaucus station.

There is no parking lot for this station, and NJ Transit refuses to build one. Without a parking lot, there is no way for people to get to the train station, except by train. But once they are on the train, who needs a train station?

[holyscroller]

"what about taking the machine apart and reassembling it inside."

Naw, makes too much sense.

[RJL]

"Architects design these beautiful buildings and they don't think about how you're going to maintain them," said Control's district manager, Peter Manetti.

No Peter, that's exactly what architects are suppose to think about and plan for, that's what we pay them for.