Remarkable Efficiency in Road Construction
16Behold as a 70 meter tunnel is installed under a highway in just three days enabling the highway above to be closed after the morning rush hour Friday and reopened before rush hour on Monday!
A hearty well done to the Netherlands for showing up every road crew in America. Why are there orange signs up for months at a time for a comparatively simple resurfacing, Massachusetts?! You have some explaining to do!
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But do they have cool names like “The Big Dig”?
@Ignorant I mean the Big Dig was such a massive project I can understand the time it took, it’s the little stuff like a simple resurfacing that drives me crazy.
And pouring rain besides.
@SSteve yeah I saw that too, that was pretty remarkable IMHO.
It’s not quite that scale, but the CTA here in Chicago can replace bridges in 2 days (when they want to). This video is very close to my apartment:
@fibrs86 that’s the key isn’t it… when they want to. Why do they ever not want to?
@jbartus when they’re paid by the hour, with time and a half for overtime
@RedMartian yeah but there’s a solution to that, give em efficiency bonuses instead.
I like how the tunnel was slipping it’s way in there before digging was even done. Anxious lil fella.
Lots of manpower and equipment working non stop for 3 days. I wonder how much it cost compared to similar jobs spread out over a couple weeks.
@medz same man hour requirement, should cost the same. Less even given the lowered economic impact of having the road shut down and the like.
Because all of the crews here are too busy working overtime to hold up the shovels! Whatsa matta you? I’ve known that since I could drive…and continued to see it - every. single. day.
@dolphinone I’m not quite following you. They’re working overtime doing what, exactly?
@jbartus holding up all of the shovels at the work site. Ya know, by leaning on them all day.
@dolphinone oh… I feel dumb.
@jbartus Nah. I just didn’t explain the local joke very well. I know that it’s not work that I would be capable of doing, but it certainly seems like they , take their sweet time getting it done and most of the time “have” to go over the time agreement - and budget.
Months at a time? I’d be thrilled with that. The road project by our high school has been going for over three years. When my son was an in-coming freshman, they told us it would be four years. We thought they were kidding. They weren’t kidding.
@pitamuffin I have two words. Big Dig. Your three year projects are dead to me.
@pitamuffin Work on the highway near where I live was postponed due to budget cuts 10 years ago. I think 2029 was the new completion date.
@jbartus @narfcake I know your tales should make me feel better, but I’ll still get pissed off every time I’m stuck in the horrendous traffic by the school (which is often).
@pitamuffin how’s three decades strike you?
This is a good read for a 10,000 foot view of the Big Dig.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/12/29/years-later-did-big-dig-deliver/tSb8PIMS4QJUETsMpA7SpI/story.html
Installing a pre-fab tunnel that goes half-way under the road. Mass could probably do that in a weekend, but why?
@G1 I dunno, why drag out a simple resurfacing job for several months at a whack?
That was super captivating!
Construction: Fast. Cheap. Good. Pick two.
The contracts these days have performance and guarantee clauses. And contractors bid for the projects. So guess which of the three loses every time?
@narfcake well… not every time.
https://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/HighlightedProjects/93Fast14RapidBridgeReplacementProject.aspx
It actually, surprisingly, went very well. Makes you wonder why MassDOT can’t do the same every time.
@narfcake except here in Maine, we seem to lose out on three.
@dolphinone I love Maine. I spent a couple of weeks every summer growing up in Oakland, ME.
@dolphinone hey, if you’re from Maine that must mean we’ve found another Patriots fan @mfladd!
@mfladd Just right up the road. I like Maine too, for about three months out of the year.
@jbartus ummm…please don’t shoot me, but no. Football yes, but NE no.
@dolphinone I have no words…
@jbartus LOL I know, I know. But I always used to make fun of fair weathered fans…until I had to become one. Seriously though, I know “my” team sucks, but in my defense, I have been a fan since they were good.
@dolphinone hold on now… who are you calling a fair weathered fan?!
@jbartus others, others I promise!
@dolphinone
Okay
So… what organization do you support? Perhaps if Goodell continues to destroy the league they’ll merge with the Patriots and you can be a Patriots fan!
@jbartus Right? Doubtful though since the Dolphins don’t play well (ok, at all…but) in the cold.
@dolphinone wait a minute… you’re saying you’re a Dolphins fan living in New England? I sure hope you mean this guy:
Also… it’s in German… that’s awesome!
@jbartus I definitely mean that guy too, but yeah, the Miami Dolphins…started when I lived in Florida for a while, and like I said, they were good then and now it’s out of loyalty…and…well, I guess there is no and.
@dolphinone so wait… where are you originally from?
@jbartus Maine, but escape every chance I get. And didn’t like football before I was able to escape the first time.
@dolphinone I don’t know how I feel about this… so I will settle for posting this.
@jbartus Ok. points for that, but eeewwww.
@dolphinone what?