Broadway Subway - Millennium Line Extension to Arbutus (II) | U/C

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

that whole project is a mess. whatever they did. we MUST avoid that. at all costs. would rather the project not start, than go through what cali is. its ridiculous.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Heh, BC could only dream of having $100+ billion to blow on transit.

[casper]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

There has been no shortage of theorizing about why North American public transit projects (and nuclear power, and other big infrastructure projects) cost so much. But a common theme for these big projects is that soft costs such as engineering have increased significantly compared to hard costs.

Perhaps one of the better analysis of transit costs specifically is this NYU study. It puts a lot of blame at the feet of little to no institutional knowledge at the government bodies charged with carrying out or supervising these projects. Another study I recently read was this one on nuclear power plants. It came to similar conclusions.

On the nuclear side we use to have AECL. A federal crown corporation. One that had a product that was exported into China and South Korea. The decision at some point was made to private the engineering division of that organisation. It went to SNC Lavalin (or should I say AtkinsRéalis).

Today we have a number of large multinational engineer firms that should have the level of expertise to take on these types of projects. AtkinsRéalis being one of the few Canadian based one.

[Weland]

******

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Weland

Are our current and future projects big enough and plentiful enough to attract attention of champion builders from Spain and China? It’s informative to watch reports on their methods. Here are some YouTube videos.

The Broadway Extension project is already being run by a Spanish firm, Acciona.

[dleung]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

I work in professional services and bill at $300 per hour. Meanwhile, I earn something like $40 per hour. That spread covers some actual costs like shared services, office rent, and benefits, but most of it ends up padding the bottom line. This wouldn't be necessary if the government did the work themselves.

That's quite the multiplier - our staff getting paid $40/hr typically bill at around $160-$200. I assume there's some Arab oil money financing some of these projects at your office?

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by dleung

That's quite the multiplier - our staff getting paid $40/hr typically bill at around $160-$200. I assume there's some Arab oil money financing some of these projects at your office?

It is quite the multiplier. The spread between junior staff and partners in my industry is significantly wider than in other professions. I know for a fact other professions with similar education requirements have entry level salaries at least 30 percent higher than mine.

I wish I realized more wholly the fruits of my labor

[WarrenC12]

In a previous life I made around $40/hr and was being billed out at $250US. But we didn't live or idea on those service contracts. If you're in an industry where you're expected to sell yourself to the client, you should be earning a lot more of that billing rate.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Weland

It’s not surprising to read that the bottle neck switched from tunnel boring to the excavation and concrete of stations.

It's not really a bottleneck, it's just a different phase of the project.

[giallo]

Some aerial shots from this morning

[Vantage]

This Thursday I will be getting a site-tour of "the elevated guideway, transition structures, an underground station, and view the TBM tunnel entrance"

If I am able to take photos and post them here I will.

[madog222]

The May Project Update includes this illustration of the finished tunnel which shows there will be Wi-Fi service.


Image from Broadway Subway Project https://app.simplycast.ca/?e=email/s...nTAwar5plnpvhg

[superelevation]

Originally Posted by Stainer

This isn't the thread for it, but that isn't correct. The biggest reason behind HSR turning into a mess was starting construction more than a decade before the design was complete ish.

If you start building your project before the design is complete, you're gonna have a real bad time.

Highly recommend reading the book How Big Things Get done https://www.amazon.ca/How-Big-Things.../dp/077109843X
It explains in great detail why so many projects go over budget.

A good book, but misses some key things. The parts about HS2 made this noticeable.

It's absolutely best practice to have an experienced team putting projects together and that usually is part of the government in the form of companies like RATP in France (the Paris metro operator consults and helps build projects across the country) and Milan Metro in Italy (which does work internationally consulting iirc).

[BaddieB]

They say this will cost $2.89B, but that was before the delay update. Any word on if this cost has since ballooned?

[madog222]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

They say this will cost $2.89B, but that was before the delay update. Any word on if this cost has since ballooned?

https://www.burnabynow.com/highlight...lacier%20Media.

B.C. ministry sticking to prior cost estimates on Pattullo Bridge and Broadway subway

[BaddieB]

Thanks, I guess I missed that.

[Vantage]

The site tour today was pretty interesting. We were allowed to take photos but were asked not to share them on social media.

The 2 hour tour started off Great Northern Way on the guideway, we walked West to the transition box, then into Great Northern Way - Emily Carr station, then got an up-close look at the TBM tunnel portal, and finally checked out the roof of the concourse level of the station. I was the only non PEng/geotech on the tour.

[mattropolis]

Sounds like you had a good Vantage point!

[madog222]

Originally Posted by Vantage

The site tour today was pretty interesting. We were allowed to take photos but were asked not to share them on social media.

The 2 hour tour started off Great Northern Way on the guideway, we walked West to the transition box, then into Great Northern Way - Emily Carr station, then got an up-close look at the TBM tunnel portal, and finally checked out the roof of the concourse level of the station. I was the only non PEng/geotech on the tour.

Nice, congratulations on getting the opportunity.

Were you able to look very far up the bored tunnels and get a sense of their grade compared to the elevated guideway transition section?

[Vantage]

Originally Posted by madog222

Nice, congratulations on getting the opportunity.

Were you able to look very far up the bored tunnels and get a sense of their grade compared to the elevated guideway transition section?

I was only able to stand right at the portal, not enter the tunnel, difficult to see the grade, not to mention the tunnel turns to the south shortly after leaving the station. I noticed that concrete has been poured to make the bored tunnel bottom flat.

Trackbed has been poured in the transition box east of Emily Carr Station. The transition box is quite tall and wide, and the track is superelevated as it makes the turn in the transition box to keep train speeds up.

On the elevated guideway they were working on installing the switches. It was explained that the switches need to be installed first as they are precision equipment and are adjusted before the trackbed is poured around them so as to maintain precision. The normal running rails are installed after the trackbed has been poured.