Re:Oroville Dam: Cost to repair spillways nearly doubles in ...
by pdkl95 on Saturday October 21, 2017 @10:59PM
(#15524931)
> It adds delays in the short-term
A delay in this project is a safety risk. They are trying to have a working spillway by Nov 1, so if unexpected rains cause another extreme inrush into the lake they can handle it by releasing >100,000 cfs from the spillway. Without that ability, they are risking failure of the emergency spillway and the flooding[1][2] of a large part of the central valley.
Re:Oroville Dam: Cost to repair spillways nearly doubles in ...
by JumpCrisscross on Saturday October 21, 2017 @11:08PM
(#15524966)
You're correct in observing that change-over processes are less-frequently implemented for time-sensitive work. I was making a broader point around our public-sector low-bid auction process.
For this type of work, the best process would avoid appointing a single contractor. Unfortunately, that would also require more expertise in the public officials allocating work, a concentration we find politically toxic in America.
No, I was responding to a specific complaint made upthread.
> Your plan sounds like an amazing way to create a tremendous amount of safety risk, shoddy work, or a project that runs forever
Do you have any basis for this? The change-over requirement for midstream cost adjustments (above a threshold) works well enough for e.g. aerospace subcontractors. It adds delays in the short-term but promotes better behavior in the long.