Big Earthquake overdue in Southern California

[IJ Reilly]

Of course, Northern CA pitched in to help you guys rebuild after Northridge, but your lawmakers certainly balked at helping to pay for our Bay Bridge project...

You think it might have something to do the proposed 24k gold plating? The estimated cost of construction started at about $1 billion and is now over $5 billion.

 

[WildCowboy]

You think it might have something to do the proposed 24k gold plating? The estimated cost of construction started at about $1 billion and is now over $5 billion.

A big chunk of the blame goes to Caltrans, who couldn't estimate the cost of a banana. Another big chunk goes to the Governator for sticking his nose in it.

I'll admit Brown and Brown (the mayoral duo) also deserve a good chunk of it though. The $1 billion cost was for a simple concrete viaduct, which I can't imagine being acceptable for such a major project in such a prominent setting anywhere in the world.

 

[IJ Reilly]

A big chunk of the blame goes to Caltrans, who couldn't estimate the cost of a banana. Another big chunk goes to the Governator for sticking his nose in it.

I'll admit Brown and Brown (the mayoral duo) also deserve a good chunk of it though. The $1 billion cost was for a simple concrete viaduct, which I can't imagine being acceptable for such a major project in such a prominent setting anywhere in the world.

Ah, well there's the problem. Southern California didn't get any fancy public works after Northridge, just the reconstruction of the same nasty freeways we had before. Likewise Northern California got reconstructed freeways after Loma Prieta, as well as the removal of some major eyesores like the Embarcadero freeway and the 880. Now the Bay Area wants a showplace bridge. That's fine -- I hope it's built. But that doesn't mean the entire state should pay for it, at least not while we're slashing funding for education and health care.

 

[WildCowboy]

Ah, well there's the problem. Southern California didn't get any fancy public works after Northridge, just the reconstruction of the same nasty freeways we had before. Likewise Northern California got reconstructed freeways after Loma Prieta, as well as the removal of some major eyesores like the Embarcadero freeway and the 880. Now the Bay Area wants a showplace bridge. That's fine -- I hope it's built. But that doesn't mean the entire state should pay for it, at least not while we're slashing funding for education and health care.

The revised "freeway on stilts" viaduct proposed by Arnold was projected to "possibly" save $300 million (which is within rounding errors on a $6 billion bridge), and may even have ended up costing more than the showplace bridge.

 

[guifa]

There was a 4.9 earthquake near here 3 years ago; the epicenter was in DeKalb County, AL (northeast corner of the state, about 2 1/2 hours or so from me). It surprisingly woke me up.

If the New Madrid fault really goes again, I wonder how many of the buildings in this area of the country are built to withstand a major or semi-major quake.

Really? I don't remember feeling anything. Thought depending on if you mean nearly three years ago or slightly more than three years ago I might not have been in Tuscaloosa yet. But I'd still've been in Auburn which might have felt a slight tremble....

 

[IJ Reilly]

The revised "freeway on stilts" viaduct proposed by Arnold was projected to "possibly" save $300 million (which is within rounding errors on a $6 billion bridge), and may even have ended up costing more than the showplace bridge.

Still, the project has inflated massively. It should come as no surprise that the state isn't anxious to bear the cost.

 

[WildCowboy]

Still, the project has inflated massively. It should come as no surprise that the state isn't anxious to bear the cost.

Agreed. For anyone who's interested in the history of the Bay Bridge replacement, here is a PDF that explains it all in only 38 pages (plus another ten pages for references). And keep in mind that this is for only the half of the bridge that needs to be replaced (imagine if we had to replace the western span as well) and this history only goes through 2004.

If all goes according to plan, we'll have a new bridge around 2013, only 24 years after it partially collapsed in the last earthquake.

 

[patrick0brien]

Not to rain on parades, but this is starting to sound political...

 

[WildCowboy]

Not to rain on parades, but this is starting to sound political...

Meh...more just a bit of NorCal-SoCal rivalry. I think we're done with it anyway.