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Replying to myself to add- I wonder if it extends down to the construction itself (not that a project would hire the workers abroad, but maybe mixing up supervi

Replying to myself to add- I wonder if it extends down to the construction itself (not that a project would hire the workers abroad, but maybe mixing up supervisors/foreman/leads or sending them for training). Orders of magnitude smaller in scale but in my observations, even things like urban sidewalk, sewer and road construction seem to be conducted entirely differently in Germany, for example, vs North America. Is the difference in construction specs? Formal vocational education of trades and apprenticeships vs the US? I don't know, but the final products seem to be much higher quality than public projects in the US and I doubt they're spending multiples more.

ams6110 8y ago
> urban sidewalk, sewer and road construction In many places in the US, these smaller infrastructure projects are done by city crews, not contractors. These crews employ friends and friends of friends hired by political managers, not people who know what they are doing. Where I live for example, the quality of any street paving done by the city vs. done by a private contractor is markedly inferior.
- sanxiyn 8y ago
  Why does this happen? I thought US was famous for favoring small government and zealous for tax dollars to be well spent.
  - fjp 8y ago
    In theory your local government has the local knowledge to allocate money and resources better than some hated bureaucrat in some far-away city. In reality local government has almost zero transparency and people don't care about local government as much so it's a massive exercise in grift. Money disappears, contracts are given out to someone's friend at a jacked up price, a few officials can block a project completely, safety specs are ignored, etc. etc. etc. If a project ordered at the state or federal level ever makes it into existence you can guarantee hundreds of hands have squeezed every dollar out of it for themselves or their friends long before a shovel ever broke ground.
- jessaustin 8y ago
  Typically repair is done by the municipality, and quality varies quite a bit for mostly opaque reasons. New construction is done by private contractors, and quality is determined mostly by the inspection agency. Whatever they let the contractor get away with, the contractor will do.

ams6110 8y ago

> urban sidewalk, sewer and road construction In many places in the US, these smaller infrastructure projects are done by city crews, not contractors. These crews employ friends and friends of friends hired by political managers, not people who know what they are doing. Where I live for example, the quality of any street paving done by the city vs. done by a private contractor is markedly inferior.

sanxiyn 8y ago
Why does this happen? I thought US was famous for favoring small government and zealous for tax dollars to be well spent.
- fjp 8y ago
  In theory your local government has the local knowledge to allocate money and resources better than some hated bureaucrat in some far-away city. In reality local government has almost zero transparency and people don't care about local government as much so it's a massive exercise in grift. Money disappears, contracts are given out to someone's friend at a jacked up price, a few officials can block a project completely, safety specs are ignored, etc. etc. etc. If a project ordered at the state or federal level ever makes it into existence you can guarantee hundreds of hands have squeezed every dollar out of it for themselves or their friends long before a shovel ever broke ground.
jessaustin 8y ago
Typically repair is done by the municipality, and quality varies quite a bit for mostly opaque reasons. New construction is done by private contractors, and quality is determined mostly by the inspection agency. Whatever they let the contractor get away with, the contractor will do.