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I think it's just about the same everywhere. In France you hear the same stories. I think we are just bad at estimating costs and time.

empath75 7y ago
Also the us. The subway extension to Dulles airport is years over due and well over budget. I don’t think it’s a problem with government. If you want these sorts of public good projects built, you need government to do it. Government doesn’t have the same incentives that private business does, and there are positives and negatives with that. A profit oriented organization would never have taken on projects of this scale.
- roadbeats 7y ago
  Istanbul Airport was built in 3 years by private companies, it was opened this year and considered as biggest after the new Chinese airport being built.
  - phreeza 7y ago
    I wonder if it has something to do with construction company execs having more skin in the game in more authoritarian regimes.
  - empath75 7y ago
    All these things are built by private companies. The funding is the part that comes from government.
    - ncmncm 7y ago
      And the change orders. Don't forget the change orders.
  - rolleiflex 7y ago
    It also caused the deaths of 55 workers in the meanwhile, 30 of directly work related accidents and 25 of ‘natural causes’(?) http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/55-workers-died-during-istanbul-airports-construction-minister-140600 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/55-workers-died-during-ista... Not only that, large parts of it remain under construction. I know because I’ve been there two weeks ago. There was raw cement residue sitting uncleared before passport control. The signage is half broken and half incomplete. Instead of signage they have temp workers shouting the names of connecting flights and you have to huddle over to that guy and hope to god he knows what he’s doing. Oh, and it takes 4+ hours to come to Kadikoy, the centre of the town on the Asian side. It might be less of a disaster than the Berlin-Brandenburg mentioned here, but only barely so.
    - roadbeats 7y ago
      I was aware of those issues while I was typing the comment. One of my cousins worked in the construction (as a worker), heard things from him, too. My point was about private companies building airports. If Turkish government built Istanbul Airport, would there be no deaths ? Worker rights definitely make difference. But in the context of new Berlin airport, it looks like the problem is more about being able to organize and being able to manage a huge project.
      - rolleiflex 7y ago
        I meant more in the vein of government having a large role in being the referee in these kind of issues. Had Istanbul Airport been built in Germany with the exact same private companies, I suspect it would have far fewer of a death toll, since the German government is much more aggressive in coming after workplace safety violations. So even if private companies are ultimately responsible, the government still does have a large role in keeping everything in check - a role Germany and Turkey failed in different ways. Sorry to hear about your cousin, though, I hope he managed to get out unscathed.
inferiorhuman 7y ago
And in America we look at France as being able to build reasonably priced infrastructure.
- ncmncm 7y ago
  It's true. Paris builds subway tunnels and stations for a third of what New York pays.

empath75 7y ago

Also the us. The subway extension to Dulles airport is years over due and well over budget. I don’t think it’s a problem with government. If you want these sorts of public good projects built, you need government to do it. Government doesn’t have the same incentives that private business does, and there are positives and negatives with that. A profit oriented organization would never have taken on projects of this scale.

roadbeats 7y ago
Istanbul Airport was built in 3 years by private companies, it was opened this year and considered as biggest after the new Chinese airport being built.
- phreeza 7y ago
  I wonder if it has something to do with construction company execs having more skin in the game in more authoritarian regimes.
- empath75 7y ago
  All these things are built by private companies. The funding is the part that comes from government.
  - ncmncm 7y ago
    And the change orders. Don't forget the change orders.
- rolleiflex 7y ago
  It also caused the deaths of 55 workers in the meanwhile, 30 of directly work related accidents and 25 of ‘natural causes’(?) http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/55-workers-died-during-istanbul-airports-construction-minister-140600 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/55-workers-died-during-ista... Not only that, large parts of it remain under construction. I know because I’ve been there two weeks ago. There was raw cement residue sitting uncleared before passport control. The signage is half broken and half incomplete. Instead of signage they have temp workers shouting the names of connecting flights and you have to huddle over to that guy and hope to god he knows what he’s doing. Oh, and it takes 4+ hours to come to Kadikoy, the centre of the town on the Asian side. It might be less of a disaster than the Berlin-Brandenburg mentioned here, but only barely so.
  - roadbeats 7y ago
    I was aware of those issues while I was typing the comment. One of my cousins worked in the construction (as a worker), heard things from him, too. My point was about private companies building airports. If Turkish government built Istanbul Airport, would there be no deaths ? Worker rights definitely make difference. But in the context of new Berlin airport, it looks like the problem is more about being able to organize and being able to manage a huge project.
    - rolleiflex 7y ago
      I meant more in the vein of government having a large role in being the referee in these kind of issues. Had Istanbul Airport been built in Germany with the exact same private companies, I suspect it would have far fewer of a death toll, since the German government is much more aggressive in coming after workplace safety violations. So even if private companies are ultimately responsible, the government still does have a large role in keeping everything in check - a role Germany and Turkey failed in different ways. Sorry to hear about your cousin, though, I hope he managed to get out unscathed.

inferiorhuman 7y ago

And in America we look at France as being able to build reasonably priced infrastructure.

ncmncm 7y ago
It's true. Paris builds subway tunnels and stations for a third of what New York pays.