SW Ring Road, Only $5 billion haha

[flipstah]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1
$8 billion gets you an oilsands plant, $5 billion gets you a 1/4 of a ring road?

lololololololololololol

LOLOL Change orders.

Originally posted by cjblair


a) $8B might get you part of/most of an oilsands plant, but probably not in it's entirety.

b) having said that, comparison to the oil construction industry is an interesting perspective. It costs a fuck load more to build anything in Ft Mac than it could ever cost in Calgary, so how on earth do they get to $5B?

It'll get you partial completion; maybe the most expensive part, but it's more expensive altogether. That's why they build big refineries in stages.

IMO, government contracts always cost more because they go for the cheapest firms then they jack their prices with changes or additions. I don't think government bids are lump sum.

[msommers]

Originally posted by cjblair
having said that, comparison to the oil construction industry is an interesting perspective. It costs a fuck load more to build anything in Ft Mac than it could ever cost in Calgary, so how on earth do they get to $5B?

Maybe they're being proactive in budgeting. It's estimated to really cost 3B, but with the way construction in Calgary goes with spending and scheduling, it'll probably cost 5B.

[hampstor]

Would like to know the breakdown of the budget... (ie: environmental preservation/interchanges, bridges, etc.) cause that is a crazy amount of money.

Originally posted by flipstah


IMO, government contracts always cost more because they go for the cheapest firms then they jack their prices with changes or additions. I don't think government bids are lump sum.

It's rare but there is the occasional lump sump/fixed fee government contracts.

In any case for projects, doing a lump sum/fixed fee compensation is not a price guarantee in practice, plus you will always spend more than the equivalent CR/TM compensation model anyway.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1


KID (KEARL Initial Development) was projected to be $8 billion dollars... its now well over $12billion due to colossal oopsies and people not knowing what they are doing. Either way, we're talking about a plant that can run for 50+ years in the middle of nowhere and the massive undertaking of having 7000+ people at any one time building it for years upon years... and that versus a god damn road.

You make it sound like it's a simple grade and pave.

[CapnCrunch]

Don't forget that the land between 16th ave and Hwy 8 is probably costing them 10 times as much as land on the east side of the city.

[EF9 Sedan]

LOL 5 billion? Are they planning on building a whole bunch of those blue ring lamp-posts on that portion of the ring road?

[Dumbass17]

sweet
so when this is actually done, Calgary's population will be over the forecasted amount on completion date so that the ring road is not even adequate anyways.

peeeerfect

did i mention calgary traffic makes me mental?

[Mibz]

Originally posted by EF9 Sedan
LOL 5 billion? Are they planning on building a whole bunch of those blue ring lamp-posts on that portion of the ring road?

I hadn't even considered that. Does this mean they have $50M dedicated to art projects along that section of road?

[schocker]

Originally posted by Mibz
I hadn't even considered that. Does this mean they have $50M dedicated to art projects along that section of road?

Stoney Trail is provincial not municipal.......so $500mm!

[bjstare]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1


KID (KEARL Initial Development) was projected to be $8 billion dollars... its now well over $12billion due to colossal oopsies and people not knowing what they are doing. Either way, we're talking about a plant that can run for 50+ years in the middle of nowhere and the massive undertaking of having 7000+ people at any one time building it for years upon years... and that versus a god damn road.

Yes. I was agreeing with your point in general. Just pointing out that $8B probably won't be the actual number - as you adequately illustrated with your Kearl example. haha.

[benyl]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch
Don't forget that the land between 16th ave and Hwy 8 is probably costing them 10 times as much as land on the east side of the city.

don't they already own it as provincial right of way?

[Maxt]

Maybe I have been watching to much mega structures on discovery channel but 5 billion seems absurd.

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by benyl


don't they already own it as provincial right of way?

The may have a right of way, but they certainly don't own it. They have to buy it.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by flipstah


You make it sound like it's a simple grade and pave.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I am sure that building the SW ring road WOULD cost huge money. Especially since it will be an integral part of the Calgary (and essentially, Alberta) infrastructure from the time it is built until we don't drive cars anymore. I would HOPE they spend some good money on it.

$5billion just seems a teenie bit excessive is all.

[LSChevelle]

5 Billion definitely seems a little over the top. I can't say I'm surprised though. The reserve is pretty much a huge swamp, I wonder how much of the 41km would be a bridge?

[pheoxs]

Crazy to think that the SW ring portion of Calgary will cost more than the entire Edmonton ring road combined...

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by pheoxs
Crazy to think that the SW ring portion of Calgary will cost more than the entire Edmonton ring road combined...

Before or after they added the overpasses?

I hate living in Edmonton sometimes

[NuclearPizzaMan]

$5bn?! Maybe it's time to abandon the SW ring road and add more trains in the SW instead...

[rage2]

Originally posted by LSChevelle
5 Billion definitely seems a little over the top. I can't say I'm surprised though. The reserve is pretty much a huge swamp, I wonder how much of the 41km would be a bridge?

That's why I'd like to see some sort of a breakdown to understand WTF is going on. Just having a $5b number thrown in our faces is kinda useless, when other road infrastructure projects don't cost nearly as much as this.

At $5b, I think it's outrageous and we really need to rethink the plans for this section. This is coming from a car guy who would love to lap the city on 1 road. Crowchild Trail over Bow River would have much more benefit at the $1.4b pricetag (although that's not really provincial).

[Toma]

Does that include repaving every road in Calgary?

Putting new ball joints and tie rods in the truck every year is getting tiresome.