Re:Oroville Dam: Cost to repair spillways nearly doubles in ...
by JumpCrisscross on Saturday October 21, 2017 @11:05PM
(#15524958)
> Nothing to see here....In the absence of time pressure they could have let a contract to fully specify the work, then one to do it.
I agree that in this specific case, had the contractor come back and said "it will be $1 billion more," it would have been worth paying to avoid the destruction of the Central Valley.
The broader discussion is that this is avoidable. Two models abound in the private sector. For less time-sensitive situations, one has changeover processes [1]. For time-sensitive work, companies avoid like death being totally dependent on a single company.
The latter would require large changes in the way contracting is done in America. But it's not like nobody else in the world faces time-sensitive repairs. The defensiveness we, as Americans, have towards our system which shows clear and apparent pricing flaws is surprising.
I agree that in this specific case, had the contractor come back and said "it will be $1 billion more," it would have been worth paying to avoid the destruction of the Central Valley.
The broader discussion is that this is avoidable. Two models abound in the private sector. For less time-sensitive situations, one has changeover processes [1]. For time-sensitive work, companies avoid like death being totally dependent on a single company.
The latter would require large changes in the way contracting is done in America. But it's not like nobody else in the world faces time-sensitive repairs. The defensiveness we, as Americans, have towards our system which shows clear and apparent pricing flaws is surprising.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15524807