What's taking so long?

[TheBlacksmith]

As I was sitting in traffic last night, at one of two tunnels between my office and my house, I had time to think. They have proposed a third tunnel, and hope to have it open by 2015! As a frequent watcher of the History Channel, it seems that we build the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, Hoover/Boulder Dam, and even most of the "Eisenhower Interstate System, WITHOUT CadCam, automatic welding machines, GPS guided earthmovers, etc, in less time.

Why does it take longer with more technology? Loss of national will? Environmental concerns? The ever popular lack of infrastructure funding? We "won" the space race, the cold war, etc, but we can't build a half mile tunnel in less than 14 years!

Blacksmith

 

[bbop]

I would think that lack of funds has alot to do with it. Be prepared to pay more taxes.

 

[TheBlacksmith]

bbop,

I guess its both lack of funds and "red tape". I'm involved in Navy shipbuilding and if it had taken this long to design and get approved a new ship during WW II, we probably wouldn't be writing this in English!

Blacksmith

 

[pmkPE]

BlackSmith:

Most of the time involved is in acquiring the property. Current owners will most likely fight the effort to relieve them of their property. Typical times for highway design to construction completion is twenty years - more than fifty percent of this time is related to selecting the route and acquiring the property.