Oroville Dam: Cost to repair spillways nearly doubles in price to $500M

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.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVcGUvE3BBc

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p0Hc56vJ2Y

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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.

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