Why do roads, rail, and infrastructure cost so much to build in the US?(vox.com)
vox.com
Why do roads, rail, and infrastructure cost so much to build in the US?
https://www.vox.com/22534714/rail-roads-infrastructure-costs-america
11 comments
Corruption? Probably but not as much as project (mis)management.
Send a couple of those guys to Japan and have them watch roads being repaved at 11 miles per day on a same stretch.
Maybe they can learn a few thing or two.
Send a couple of those guys to Japan and have them watch roads being repaved at 11 miles per day on a same stretch.
Maybe they can learn a few thing or two.
TLDR: NIMBYs suing to block projects, delaying the work. Simple inflation in materials, wages, property values, etc., during the legal battles drive up the ultimate costs.
Also, America builds infrastructure largely as 1-off projects, rather than continuously, so there are startup and shutdown costs added on. IOW...bureaucracy would actually reduce costs.
Corruption is a drop in the bucket compared to these other items.
Also, America builds infrastructure largely as 1-off projects, rather than continuously, so there are startup and shutdown costs added on. IOW...bureaucracy would actually reduce costs.
Corruption is a drop in the bucket compared to these other items.
1-off projects is a big problem with nuclear.
You build them for 50+ years. People retire and now you have no clue how they built them that cheap.
You build them for 50+ years. People retire and now you have no clue how they built them that cheap.
Alon Levy's blog is a gold mine for more in-depth looks at various facets of this.
https://pedestrianobservations.com/2021/01/15/friends-dont-l... comes to mind as a touchstone gripe about institutions and projects
https://pedestrianobservations.com/2021/01/15/friends-dont-l... comes to mind as a touchstone gripe about institutions and projects
Is it just me or does the author never actually answer the question in the title?
Also, does anyone know if the pricing graph accounts for inflation?
Also, does anyone know if the pricing graph accounts for inflation?
i think this topic was covered here not so long ago and the short, suggested explanation was, as far as i can remember, corruption.
This article is better than most and breaks down how different factors like politics and NIMBY influence, both of which can be considered corruption or linked to corruption, play a role in this.
I heard the expression "vetocracy" not a long time ago. The set of players that can say "no" to any project is not exactly small.
"corruption and legally sanctioned corruption masquerading as legitimate expenditures" would probably be a better TL;DR but yeah, corruption is it.
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It is incredibly inefficient for every municipality to create and maintain the bureaucratic infrastructure necessary to administrate projects on this scale when they might actually use it once every few decades, and it is unreasonable to expect the various parties involved to forego their personal interests and biases and look at the situation objectively.
It would make much more sense for the local population just to be consulted on what the major requirements for the project are, and for a state, regional, or federal organization to take those requirements and figure out a way to get them done. At that larger level, you'll have enough projects going on that you can justify a large staff of experts, the wheel won't have to be reinvented time and time again, and decisions will be made based on well developed best practices by people who don't have obvious conflicts of interest.