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The improvement of the approach roads to Luton airport started in June 2006 and was supposed to be completed by spring 2008, but is still going on. It is a major construction project, but I cannot help thinking that in any other advanced country it would not be a 2-3 years job but one completed in months. It seems typical of such projects in this country. Can anyone in the business throw light on this?
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What with the dire problems in the financial industry over here not many Americans are crowing at the moment.
However, they have just opened a new motorway bridge in Minnesota to replace the one which fell down last year - it took them just over 12 months to build it.
Compare to the 3-4 years to build the Dartford Crossing, and the Thelwall Viaduct, which was being built for most of the 90s and then had to be fixed for another couple of years.
The British do seem to be getting a raw deal in this area.
Edited by Pugugly on 18/09/2008 at 19:27
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RJ - I think you are mistaken. UK is not an advanced country! What public service(s) do you find satisfactory and good value for money, taking into account what you pay in overall taxation to fund them?
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Ok then--try this Black Cat roundabout improvement compared with almost any roadworks you can think of in Spain.
Months and months of delays and tailbacks compared with slam bang done and dusted.
I've thought UK roadbuilders are gormless for years.
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Black Cat roundabout improvement
Before I moved the Gt Barford bypass was the bane of my life, it seemed to take forever to finish! Now I'm having the same problem with the Earl Shilton bypass on the A47 twice a day... Start date late 2007, completion due winter 2008/9!
Edited by Webmaster on 21/09/2008 at 13:33
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Black Cat roundabout improvement
And hasn't it improved the flow of traffic northbound on the A1, or not.
It amazes me that you can get approval to spend a vast amount of money on a project like the Black Cat roundabout, when it was blindingly obvious even to an idiot that unless you created a grade-separated junction, you would still have the same problems that you started with, only located 20' south.
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However they have just opened a new motorway bridge in Minnesota to replace the one which fell down last year - it took them just over 12 months to build it.
I lived six blocks from this bridge throughout the 1990s, drove over it countless times, and was dumbfounded to see what things looked like after it came down--that could have been me on it that day, for all the times I went over it. As it turned out, one of the people that was on the bridge when it collapsed turned out to be a former neighbour from two blocks away in my hometown.
When I was in Minneapolis this June, I watched the crews working on the replacement bridge--and working at quite a clip! No slacking off here. They must have paid millions in overtime to get it built so quickly.
Edited by Pebble on 21/09/2008 at 06:37
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It seems typical of such projects in this country. Can anyone in the business throw light on this?
For a while I was involved in some multi-billion £ construction projects. There are a myraid of reasons for the way the UK construction industry is so inefficient. In my time in the industry, it was not uncommon for the project to be held to ransom by various trades as the end of the project got nearer. Extra bonuses always had to be paid for the final works to be completed. I don't know if that still goes on.
It will be interesting to see how a project such as the 2012 Olympics will be tackled - as obviously there can be no question of delaying the completion of the work!
Take this example in France:
"In May 2006 the EdF board approved construction of a new 1650 MWe EPR unit at Flamanville, Normandy, alongside two existing 1300 MWe units. After considerable preparatory work first concrete was poured on schedule in December 2007 and construction is expected to take 54 months."
In the UK the same project from decision by the Board to completion would probably at least take THREE times as long, assuming that Planning and Nuclear Inspectorate do not hinder the project as per their old habits.
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Edinburgh - 26 weeks to replace a roundabout with a set of traffic lights - actually saw someone working there the other day with his two supervisors sitting in their pretty van (illegally) smoking
Orlando - 2 weeks to erect a motorway flyover - all done overnight since it involved the closure of a B road, but there must have been about 30 people working.
Edinburgh - serious pothole in road took 3 months to get properly repaired
Orlando - complete 1 mile road resurface carried out overnight
Edinburgh - closing it's main street (Princes St) for 6 months to lay tram rails
Orlando - would probably do it during their coffee break..............
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Just checked with Google Earth regarding motorways in our area of Spain. The image was taken in October 2005 and you can see they had just started clearance work. 120 km opened in April 2007; a further 30km in June 2007; 30km in May 2008 and the final 15km in July. This is in a fairly hilly area - one of the motorways runs through a 2km tunnel under a national park (Did I see a recent thread regarding the A3 Hogsback tunnel taking 4 years!).
More interesting than the construction times was the approval process - the line of the motorway was pegged out; there were 15 days to give your objections to the local mayor; a month later the mayors met and agreed any changes; compensation and compulsory purchases then made and work commenced three months later.
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Orlando - complete 1 mile road resurface carried out overnight
My Chicago suburb resurfaced a 2 mile dual carriageway in 5 days working only at night. That'd have been nine months in the UK!
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