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No link, but heard through the grape vine that all major projects that are stalled by municipal bureaucracy are to move forward as they will be funded or guaranteed by Federal funds.
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Re: Rumor: All Projects Stalled By Municipal Bureaucracy to be Green-lighted.
To wit:Originally posted by Sapiens View PostGovernor seeks $3.8b to fix bridgesSee also:
April 9, 2008 (Matt Viser - Globe Staff)
Says bond plan would bring 23,000 jobs
Governor Deval Patrick plans today to unveil a $3.8 billion bond proposal to repair 411 deteriorating bridges throughout the state over the next eight years, a project he will argue not only improves road safety but also pumps cash into the economy to buffer Massachusetts from a recession.
more stories like this
The massive repair and reconstruction of bridges in virtually every corner of the state would create 23,000 direct construction jobs, according to a preliminary draft of the governor's plan, which is significantly higher than the 5,000 employed at the height of the Big Dig. more...
The problem of poison
April 10, 2008 (Binyamin Appelbaum - Boston Globe)
Here's a striking fact from the February issue of Harper's Magazine: Because of the rapid drop in interest rates between 2000 and 2003, "The monthly cost of a mortgage on a $500,000 home fell to roughly the monthly cost of a mortgage on a $250,000 home purchased two years earlier." It was as if the nation had a credit card, and the limit had suddenly doubled.
The line comes from a history of the housing bubble by Eric Janszen, who worked as a venture capitalist during the dotcom bubble. Janszen basically argues that the housing bubble was inflated by the federal government to rescue the economy from the collapse of the dotcom bubble. His forward-looking point is a warning that the government may now try to inflate a new economic bubble. His favored suspect is the alternative-energy industry.
Far more interesting than Janszen's man-behind-the-curtain theory of economic history is his comparison of the housing bubble with the practices of the chemical industry. The housing bubble was fueled by securitization, the practice of selling mortgages as investments, which massively increased the supply of funding for new loans. Janszen argues that securitization is a new instance of the flawed theory that poison can be diluted. more...Ed. -
Re: Rumor: All Projects Stalled By Municipal Bureaucracy to be Green-lighted.
Originally posted by boston globe
this phrase amused me. ej is no conspiracy theorist. if the msm thinks ej has a tinfoil hat, it speaks to their willful blindness to the actions of the fed. i guess they caught it from i-can't-see-a-bubble-when-it's-in-front-of-my-face greenspan.
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Re: Rumor: All Projects Stalled By Municipal Bureaucracy to be Green-lighted.
I highly recommend ENR.
http://enr.construction.com
Fast track? yes
transportation 
BRIDGES I-35W Crossing May Be Done Months Early on Fast Track 04/02/2008 By Aileen Cho
The joint-venture team for the new Interstate 35W bridge expects to begin placing precast segments for the 504-ft-long main span this month and complete the superstructure in June at least two months earlier than anticipated and far ahead of the stipulated Dec. 24 deadline.
Tim Davis, E.I.TPiers are taking shape on new I-35W bridge, with precast segments on the way.
The 1,216-ft-long, 10-lane bridge will replace the steel truss that collapsed on Aug. 1, 2007, into the Mississippi River. By working two 10-hour shifts throughout the winter, the joint venture led by Longmont, Colo.-based Flatiron Constructors Inc. and Seattle-based Manson Construction Co. has completed all foundation work. The two quartets of 70-ft-tall piers will sit on foundations built with drilled shafts up to 8 ft in diameter, with rock sockets down to 100 ft. The north abutment and 70-ft approach span have 4-ft-dia. drilled shafts and the south abutment has 102 driven piles.
The team expects to finish placing the main span’s 120 precast segments, each 16.6 ft long and up to 25 ft deep, in June, says Peter Sanderson, project manager. “We intend to erect four segments a day,” with one crane operating on a barge in the river, he says. As of April 1, almost 40 precast segments were completed in the on-site yard. The key to speed is multiple operations with no reusing of forms, says Minnesota Dept. of Transportation project manager Jon Chiglo. “Normally, you don’t see six sets of formwork for the pier columns,” he says. “You usually use one set multiple times.”
Officials say they have cut no corners and taken no chances on quality inspection. “A regular job inspection normally would have one or two people inspecting for one or two hours,” says Sanderson. “Here, we’ve had eight people inspect [a job component] for 16 hours at a time.”
Almost 500 personnel are expected to work on site at peak, with several visits a week from Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials. The team stands to earn a $7-million completion bonus on its $243-million contract, plus $200,000 a day for each day before Dec. 24, up to 100 days. It would face an equivalent $27 million in late fees, plus unlimited liquidated damages.
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Re: Rumor: All Projects Stalled By Municipal Bureaucracy to be Green-lighted.
Perhaps Binyamen belongs to the "serial bubbles occur randomly to benefit the same group over and over by accident" school.Originally posted by jk View PostEd.Comment
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