Here’s a shocking, not shocking article on time and cost overruns for a government project. Denver International Airport’s remodel of its “Great Hall” (the big security check-in area) is about 30 months behind and they’re a year into the project.
Yeah, and if you’ve traveled from DIA – you know the lines on any day or at any time can overwhelm that area.
Yeah, and if you’ve traveled from DIA – you know the lines on any day or at any time can overwhelm that area.
Should we be surprised? If you’re from or lived in Colorado, it seems every government construction project runs behind. If you’re not from Colorado – you have experienced the same. Think the Big Dig in Boston for example.
Then there is the issue of change orders. Change orders by the client can add costs. Government is notoriously bad at sticking with the plan, and change orders always add to the cost. DIA was probably notoriuosly bad with change orders. We’re sure the truth will come to light!
We can add this overpromised, under-performing, overly expensive projects to things like the RTD Light Rail Expansion, and of course the VA in Aurora, CO.
Let’s face it, there’s no competitive bidding and very little incentive to finish these projects. Both the government and the contractors (The select few that get the contracts) know that there will be a push for a tax increase to finish many of these projects. A lot of this is just fleecing of the taxpayer.
Here’s a fun website that covers “Budget Busting” projects…
For those of you that know a little history of DIA, this too had cost and time overruns. The article cites the weak concrete – this may be somewhat believable. DIA had concrete issues when it was being built, but it was mostly with its runways. You may remember they scrapped the expensive automated baggage system that is lying in a field as trash near the airport.
Pretty much government stinks at building things. Without a profit motive, there is little to no incentive to finish things on time and under budget. Don’t you agree?
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This article has been updated with additional information