As a rule, newspaper reporters have issues with large numbers. A $100 million might be a million, a hundred or something else. It also might be $100 billion, but that's not likely.
Dik, lots of money spent for little gain. The idea is to get the money out of government and into the hands of contractors and investors. California high speed rail is another example.
Concur... I'm surprised there wasn't a proper geotechnical study of the entire tunnel length. There could be more of this 'stuff' further along. Best to stop and determine what they are really getting into. This might have been the first step.
Incompetence will only make climate change 'fixes' worse and more costly... but the problem is not going away.
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So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates
These projects typically go the same way. Government wants something done. Big company with reasonable rep underquotes. Project runs into delays or difficulties. Contractor stops work. Government pays more money, things start up again.
Cheers
Greg Locock
New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376
Yup... I live in a different world... the first thing I would have done, after a financial study, would be to do a detailed geotech report to confirm the project was feasible.
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So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates
The video says the sinkhole is about 150 meters (yards) from the start of the bore.
I do wonder why they didn't do a cut first, that far in. It would seem, after spending $100 million dollars, that you would have a good sense of the soil at the beginning (and end) of the project, and how much cover you need over the bore.
Don't know why, but this is strikingly reminiscent of California High Speed Rail.
On t'other hand, there did seem to be one gentleman who seemed honestly embarrassed in his testimony. I'd like to buy him a drink, someday. And chat.
There's also the question of why they didn't put the "pipes" up on the surface of the ground.
You need to study the length of the tunnel. You need to know the geotech conditions for the full length before you put a shovel in the ground. I'm really surprised this wasn't done. This sort of stupidity gives hydro power a 'bad name'.
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So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates
The length is supposed to be 17000 metres. The expenditure on geotech was said to be $100,000,000. So almost $6000 per metre of tunnel length. How much expenditure on geotech would you expect, those of you who would have an idea, that is?
Not sure what this drilling was all about, but maybe somebody does.
If I spend $100M to go a geotech report, I would have done it in the immediate area of the work, not some other place. It might be interesting to determine how the contractors were chosen.
A proper goetech study would likely have caught that problem. I'd have spaced the testholes at about 50m o/c and closer, if something unusual showed up, for the length of the tunnel, with the depth of the hole equal to the depth of the tunnel or deeper in some places. Someone should have an inkling of what the general geology of the area is. I have no idea of how they spent that much money... smacks of the 'drunken sailor syndrome'. If a sinkhole, it was likely Karst geology which should have run up some real 'red flags', and alerted to real possible problems just like this. It doesn't appear someone advised them very well, and maybe the consultants were remiss.
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So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates
WPPSS became commonly (and derisively) known as "Whoops!",[1][2] due to over-commitment to nuclear power in the 1970s which brought about financial collapse and the second largest municipal bond default in U.S. history.[3
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