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Comment by pwaivers | Hacker News Reader

Despite the criticisms, this is pretty awe-inspiring. I wish the US had big construction projects like this also.

The US still has some great engineering projects happening, we just don't have the political climate to celebrate them, and to some extent have simply grown used to them/stopped seeing the wonder in them.

(A small, unusual benefit of being in a primarily civil engineering company is seeing a weekly email from a US manager celebrating all the cool projects around the world, but especially in the US, the company is contributing to.)

The World's Fair still exists, but maybe it has been far too long since the US has hosted one outside of Epcot's attempt to be a permanent one. Generating some fresh "gee whiz, engineering" excitement seems like a good idea this decade.

Care to share some interesting ones of these projects? Genuinely interested.

I suppose the easiest stuff to share is what's highlighted on the company's website. (Obvious disclaimer: my opinions on this site are my own, not my employer's. I don't speak for my employer. I do think my employer is involved in a lot of really interesting projects.)

Water projects are the closest to what I work on (though as a software developer my role is often indirect a bit from these projects), so ones I'm slightly more familiar with how much work and importance they have, simply from hearing coworkers talk about them (including the aforementioned manager's internal "Good News Friday" emails). Here are a few US Water project highlights from the company website:

https://www.stantec.com/en/projects/united-states-projects/s...

https://www.stantec.com/en/projects/united-states-projects/p...

https://www.stantec.com/en/projects/united-states-projects/c...

There are interesting sidebar links to more detailed articles there, and more projects if you explore further. The company is HQed in Edmonton, Alberta so you will find for obvious reasons there are also a lot of Canadian projects highlighted.

You mean like the 'Big Dig'?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/the-big-dig-facts-and-figu...

Also the Chicago Deep Tunnel system is pretty massive

"Phase 1, the creation of 109.4 miles (176.1 km) of drainage tunnels ranging from 9 to 33 feet (2.7 to 10.1 m) in diameter, up to 350 feet (110 m) underground, was adopted in 1972, commenced in 1975, and completed and operational by 2006."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_and_Reservoir_Plan

Locals like to call it the "big handout." It was a boondoggle project that just showcased the fact that anyone whos connected can get a slice of the government spending pie. They should have just upgraded the central artery. There's a reason Boston is the goto example worldwide for why you don't put your highways underground.

Why? It seems to work pretty well compared to before.

Boston in general is a traffic nightmare, so I’m not sure how to measure success/failure.

>Why?

It cost a ton more than any other way of delivering a similiar result. Operating costs are higher than a raised highway because it's underground. The only pro is that a bunch of rich progressives who don't actually live in Boston get to pat themselves on the back about how the old eyesore of a raised highway that "divides the city" (or some mumbo jumbo like that) is gone. That's not enough to be worth the price. It was a boondoggle. They should have just rebuilt the raised highway.

Or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Pontchartrain_Causeway is still the longest continuous bridge

   I wish the US had big construction projects like this also.

I wish the US was doing a better job of maintaining some of the infrastructure it's already built...

> I wish the US had big construction projects like this also.

Big construction projects have big bills to pay, for both construction and maintenance. Do you also want to pay the bills?

I wish for construction projects that have big ROI. I prefer a small one to a big one if it produces the same value - just like in software.

Basically need a dictatorship to pull this off. No environmental checks, no vetos or petitions. And, as correctly pointed out in another comment - building greenfield is one thing. Maintaining and expanding is a whole other ballgame. Just like refactoring a legacy code base which is in heavy production use.

Basically need a dictatorship to pull this off.

Not really:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Øresund_Bridge

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossrail

https://www.rt.com/business/353690-norway-underwater-floatin...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Base_Tunnel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct

This idea that authoritarianism is a good way to get things done.... I’m seeing it suggested more and more. Is it true?

It makes sense on some level. But historically, is it actually true that dictators get more done?

Well, if you group monarchy into this, most of what we consider world wonders where created by those systems. Don't benefit the individuals, but make for spectacular tourist attractions. Great Wall, Pyramids, Cathedrals, ...

Isn’t something like a Toyota Corolla orders of magnitude more “wonder” than the pyramids?

Cathedrals though... I do kind of see there might be orders more more skilled labor embodies there?

A dictatorship is useful for quick taking of lands, hiding deaths of workers who are killed in construction projects, and manipulation of currency to make the projects cheaper.

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