> This year, the airport announced plans to remove the last of the Telecar equipment from the connecting tunnel and refit the space it used to occupy as a pedestrian walkway. The $300-700 million project is scheduled to start early next year
Must be a fancy pedestrian walkway! Also amazing that somehow they can’t estimate the cost to within less than a $400 million difference
> Also amazing that somehow they can’t estimate the cost to within less than a $400 million difference
There's often tremendous variance in cost of construction materials over time. Especially in a time of high inflation and random tarrifs, project delays will result in changes in material prices and likely increases in labor costs.
Plus, demolition often involves an element of unknowns, especially with something like this, there's a good chance the as-built drawings don't reflect the actual conditions. There's got to be some wiggle room for that, too.
It does add up to pretty wild that high end is more than double the low end, but big projects are like that.
Today, such systems just work.[1] 25mph carts are now normal.
This is more of a construction management problem. Two vendors went bankrupt and coordination between the tunnel construction and baggage system was terrible.
I've seen pictures of that project showing where concrete footings for conveyors didn't line up across a contractor boundary. This was not primarily a software problem.
> This year, the airport announced plans to remove the last of the Telecar equipment from the connecting tunnel and refit the space it used to occupy as a pedestrian walkway. The $300-700 million project is scheduled to start early next year
Must be a fancy pedestrian walkway! Also amazing that somehow they can’t estimate the cost to within less than a $400 million difference
> Also amazing that somehow they can’t estimate the cost to within less than a $400 million difference
There's often tremendous variance in cost of construction materials over time. Especially in a time of high inflation and random tarrifs, project delays will result in changes in material prices and likely increases in labor costs.
Plus, demolition often involves an element of unknowns, especially with something like this, there's a good chance the as-built drawings don't reflect the actual conditions. There's got to be some wiggle room for that, too.
It does add up to pretty wild that high end is more than double the low end, but big projects are like that.
I appreciate both the level of detail and the storytelling. This looks to have been a lot of work and care.
Today, such systems just work.[1] 25mph carts are now normal.
This is more of a construction management problem. Two vendors went bankrupt and coordination between the tunnel construction and baggage system was terrible. I've seen pictures of that project showing where concrete footings for conveyors didn't line up across a contractor boundary. This was not primarily a software problem.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0_4Xp_XkQ4
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