Posted on 03/29/2024 9:22:10 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Could it really take twice as long and four times as much money to replace the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge than it did to build it in the first place?
The Key Bridge was built at a cost (adjusted for inflation) of about $200 million. Replacing it could take a decade and cost $400 million to $800 million dollars, according to experts in what has become a dismal field.
“To actually recreate that whole transportation network" could take a decade or more, structural engineer Ben Schafer told USA Today on Wednesday. Huge projects, Schafer said, now take “rarely less than 10 years."
Well, they didn't use to.
By comparison, the Apollo program that put a man on the moon required seven years, eight months, and 23 days. And — this is the really exciting part — everything about Apollo, from the massive Saturn V rocket to the "tiny" flight computer, had to be created from scratch. Those seven-and-a-half years included a monthslong delay following the tragic loss of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee during an Apollo 1 dress rehearsal that ended in a deadly crew capsule fire.
Construction began on the Hoover Dam on July 7, 1930, and five years later, it was complete. It started generating electrical power on Sept. 11, 1936 — exactly six years, two months, and four days after the first shovelful of dirt was moved.
The Empire State Building was fully erect (heh) after just one year and 45 days of construction.
But those were all 20th Century projects, back when we used to get things done. Welcome to 21st Century America, where everything is needlessly time-consuming, expensive, stupid, or (most likely) all three.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
While your concept has merit, wouldn't really change anything. That would probably turn into another Big Dig.
Sigh.
during the Northridge quake a section of the I-10 fell Projected months to rebuild Gov Wilson or Deukmejian (either republican) waived several state regulations and got it done in a few weeks.
That is true and also look how fast we churned out planes and ships during that time...war footing was the word and it got done...
Was living in OC at the time..that does sound right. In a case like that and currently, we know from experience we need Republicans on the job....
Enough with the pearl-clutching fear porn from a professional who should know better.
The I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis occurred in early August 2007.
The new bridge that was built in its place was open to traffic in September 2008.
Ironically, replacing a major bridge after a total collapse actually has a FASTER timeline than a project to build a new one or rehabilitate/replace an old one that is obsolete. There are two factors at work here:
1. When a bridge is constructed to replace one that has been taken out of commission unexpectedly due to a disaster, the normal environmental review requirements are waived as long as the new bridge is an "in-kind" replacement of the original one.
2. When a bridge is rehabilitated or replaced as a planned capital project, one of the factors that greatly extends the timeline for completion is the need to keep the old bridge open for traffic while the new one is constructed in stages. This is why it takes far less time to build a new bridge from the ground up than it does to build one in multiple stages to accommodate normal traffic operations as much as possible.
Clears out quick aftwe destruction!
9 years just to do the environmental impact study!
and God forbid they find any native American remains during the process!
Point of comparison.
The eastern part of the SF to Oakland Bay Bridge, the part between Buena Vista Island and Oakland was severely damaged in the 1989 earthquake. While repaired in one month, it was judged not suitable for continued permanent use.
The replacement bridge as only completed in 2013 with a cost overrun of 700%.
Good luck Baltimore.
the woke generation
Trucks carrying hazmat cannot go through a tunnel. The main purpose of the FSK bridge was to have a route for those hazmat trucks.
I should have also mentioned oversize loads; trucks with oversize loads used the FSK bridge.
My family had a bricklaying company. They had a contract for the building of the Empire State Building
“ The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931”
Took less than one year During the depression.
It’s still standing 95 years later.
C’mon maaaaan!
They need to suspend all kinds of government bureaucracy. That would save years.
My daughter was at CSU Northridge and had an apartment near the campus when the feces hit the ocillator. Her building slight damage.
That’s reasonable.
My family had a bricklaying company. They had a contract for the building of the Empire State Building “ The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931”What in the world happened to this nation?Took less than one year During the depression.
It’s still standing 95 years later.
Perhaps the new project won’t involve construction of new foundations.
Plus they’ll have to add railroad tracks to validate Biden’s claim he took the train across it all those times.
America today is sclerotic, choked with regulations and obstacles to any real innovation or progress or even maintenance of what we already have. These are all symptoms of a nation heading for a serious fall, and there are simply too many leftists in positions of power to fix it.
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