General Infrastructure

[Arlington]

I'd say that walling up those columns is a triple good:
1) Traffic safety: It protects vehicles from column collisions (such as killed Princess Diana). The Pru's guardrail is low and skimpy considering the traffic volumes & speed (Paris' Pont de l'alma tunnel had no guardrail, but you get the idea. Crashing into the center is bad for any car/truck and could throw pieces into traffic on the other side at a closing speed of 120+mph)
2) Structural safety: It protects the columns from collisions (such as a terrorist might use, especially now that we're building buildings on top)
3) Smoke / accident isolation: not letting problems on one side change the air or views on the other. Maybe it also keeps snow plowing/water from blasting from one side to the other?

Why now, though? Maybe as part of the prep for building on top? Or maybe just that rather than replace the old guardrail, they're doing it to modern standards.

 

[CSTH]

[/URL][/IMG]

Here is a pic of the part of the entrance I am talking about. It is not totally enclosed.

Aha! But it will be when the Viola building project is complete (air rights project at the intersection of boylston and mass ave.)

 

[dshoost88]

Big news via Twitter today about the City considering closing certain streets for peds only during certain summer days:

https://twitter.com/CityOfBoston/status/733011336783876096

Adam Castiglioni ‏@ConciergeBoston 45m ago
@marty_walsh How about closing streets like Newbury, Union, and Hanover to traffic on certain days in the Summer? #AskMJW

City of Boston ‏@CityOfBoston
@ConciergeBoston We're actively looking into this at several locations around the city. Stay tuned for info later this summer #askmjw

THAT'S AWESOME!!!!! If only I had a nickel for every time on Patriots Day I hear another person say, "Wow, I love walking down Newbury Street without cars!"...

 

[saulblum]

THAT'S AWESOME!!!!! If only I had a nickel for every time on Patriots Day I hear another person say, "Wow, I love walking down Newbury Street without cars!"...

The Globe piece includes my tweet about exactly that from last month.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/20...s-good-idea/vnfT0kpyL0wpJygDaiRaSL/story.html

 

[JumboBuc]

There's a great opinion piece in today's Globe--by Larry Summers of all people--on the fiasco around the repair of the Anderson Memorial Bridge.

The overall productivity of both labor and capital is orders of magnitude greater today than it was a century ago, yet somehow our capacity to build infrastructure seems to have regressed. Imagine if the same productivity gains seen in our factories and offices over this time could also be found in our construction sites...

 

[The EGE]

Speaking of bridges across the Charles, how about a Reasonable Infrastructure Pitch: make the middle lane of the BU Bridge a reversible lane. Currently, the single lane at the start of the bridge is a major bottleneck in each direction. In the morning, you get backups as the Storrow traffic and the Allston/Brighton/Newton traffic squeeze into one lane. In the evening, the lane drop at the north side of the bridge backs up the entire rotary and surrounding streets. At both times, there's barely any traffic in the reverse direction.

Since it's not a divided highway, you could probably use lighter barriers that can be moved by hand - no need to move jersey barriers. With a bit of paint, you could try it for a week and revert back if things don't improve. If they do, it would pave the way for turning the rotary into a four-way at-grade intersection.

 

[underground]

Love the Globe comment that Patton and Caeser only had to deal with the Nazis and Gauls, not the Cambridge area bureaucracy.

 

[JeffDowntown]

Speaking of bridges across the Charles, how about a Reasonable Infrastructure Pitch: make the middle lane of the BU Bridge a reversible lane. Currently, the single lane at the start of the bridge is a major bottleneck in each direction. In the morning, you get backups as the Storrow traffic and the Allston/Brighton/Newton traffic squeeze into one lane. In the evening, the lane drop at the north side of the bridge backs up the entire rotary and surrounding streets. At both times, there's barely any traffic in the reverse direction.

Since it's not a divided highway, you could probably use lighter barriers that can be moved by hand - no need to move jersey barriers. With a bit of paint, you could try it for a week and revert back if things don't improve. If they do, it would pave the way for turning the rotary into a four-way at-grade intersection.

For this speed of roadway, you should not even need barriers. At least out in the Midwest, reversible lanes are simply marked by overhead lighted signage.

 

[Equilibria]

There's a great opinion piece in today's Globe--by Larry Summers of all people--on the fiasco around the repair of the Anderson Memorial Bridge.

The overall productivity of both labor and capital is orders of magnitude greater today than it was a century ago, yet somehow our capacity to build infrastructure seems to have regressed. Imagine if the same productivity gains seen in our factories and offices over this time could also be found in our construction sites...

Sorry, but disagree. Dumb opinion piece. Really dumb.

He lists all the (legitimate) reasons for delay - historical preservation (which makes comparisons to the initial construction of the bridge meaningless), unexpected water mains, the insistence by bike/ped advocates that they be accommodated - and then uses them to support conclusions that have very little to do with them. Surely the Anderson's problems could have been ameliorated by planning and design that had perfect foresight and addressed these issues, but this isn't about our general regression as a society, it's about the challenges of reconstructing a historic structure over a waterway without disturbing traffic. The "Cambridge bureaucracy" has nothing whatever to do with it.

Patton and Ceasar were building temporary structures in countries they were in the process of flattening. China destroys its environment and displaces its citizens with wanton disregard. 50 years ago, the "more efficient" America pushed projects into Black neighborhoods and destroyed the West End.

The US has an issue with infrastructure that comes from not spending enough and having built too much in the past to maintain in the present. It doesn't come from "incompetence" or "lack of gumption". The spectacle of a former Harvard president taking arrogant potshots at Cambridge locals (clearly timed for when all the alums and parents are in town and reading the Globe) because his limo can't get to the final club as fast as he'd like is a poor excuse for a crucial discussion.

 

[JumboBuc]

Sorry, but disagree. Dumb opinion piece. Really dumb.

He lists all the (legitimate) reasons for delay - historical preservation (which makes comparisons to the initial construction of the bridge meaningless), unexpected water mains, the insistence by bike/ped advocates that they be accommodated - and then uses them to support conclusions that have very little to do with them. Surely the Anderson's problems could have been ameliorated by planning and design that had perfect foresight and addressed these issues, but this isn't about our general regression as a society, it's about the challenges of reconstructing a historic structure over a waterway without disturbing traffic. The "Cambridge bureaucracy" has nothing whatever to do with it.

Patton and Ceasar were building temporary structures in countries they were in the process of flattening. China destroys its environment and displaces its citizens with wanton disregard. 50 years ago, the "more efficient" America pushed projects into Black neighborhoods and destroyed the West End.

The US has an issue with infrastructure that comes from not spending enough and having built too much in the past to maintain in the present. It doesn't come from "incompetence" or "lack of gumption". The spectacle of a former Harvard president taking arrogant potshots at Cambridge locals (clearly timed for when all the alums and parents are in town and reading the Globe) because his limo can't get to the final club as fast as he'd like is a poor excuse for a crucial discussion.

But few of these "(legitimate) reasons for delay" are indeed "legitimate", and they certainly should not result in delays like we are seeing in this project. Sure, coming across an unexpected water main sucks, and this can't always be prevented, but is that a legitimate reason to hold an in-process project up for 357 extra days? "The insistence by bike/ped advocates that they be accommodated" should not be a cause for delay; the issue here is that bike/ped concerns weren't accommodated until they were, and then everything had to be re-planned to adjust to this mid-project chance of heart. Speed bumps such as these should not push out the finish date for a bridge repair by literally years.

This is bureaucratic ineptitude. When the water main was discovered, the MWRA should have fast-tracked the permitting process to correct the problem and keep the project running as quickly as possible. If those bike/ped advocates were included from the start we would have avoided months of traffic delays and saved millions of dollars. The mentality that years-long delays and cost overruns in the millions of dollars cannot be avoided and are simply part and parcel of all infrastructure development is precisely "the failure of citizenry to hold government accountable for reasonable performance — a failure that may in part reflect a lowering of expectations as trust in government declines".

I would argue that the US has an issue with infrastructure both because we don't spend enough AND because we're incompetent. If it were just an issue of spending, we'd see projects that do get funding coming in at costs similar to projects completed by our peers internationally, but we know that's not the case. Sure, "China destroys its environment and displaces its citizens with wanton disregard", but Japan, Germany, Denmark, France, and the Netherlands don't and yet their projects get done way cheaper and faster than ours. And I don't need to list the incredible feats of engineering and construction accomplishment of "the 'more efficient' America"...

Your attack on Summers for his Harvard history is silly. You see him as "a former Harvard president [whose] limo can't get to the final club as fast as he'd like", I see him as a world-renowned economist and expert on, among other things, public finance and labor economics. And hell, if anyone should understand the challenges of reconciling historical preservation and modern accommodation it should be the President of Harvard University. Given Summers' political affiliations, I also take his points about the failure of public sector performance closer to heart than I would if it came from someone of a different ideological background.

My biggest gripe with his piece is his reference to "high construction unemployment", which I don't think is still the case...

 

[Equilibria]

Your attack on Summers for his Harvard history is silly. You see him as "a former Harvard president [whose] limo can't get to the final club as fast as he'd like", I see him as a world-renowned economist and expert on, among other things, public finance and labor economics. And hell, if anyone should understand the challenges of reconciling historical preservation and modern accommodation it should be the President of Harvard University.

Had Summers written the piece as "a world-renowned economist and expert on labor economics" - and he is one - I would have liked his piece much better. He chose to present himself as arrogant and out-of-touch. What other conclusion can I take from his haughty and ridiculous comparison of building a bridge vs. historically rehabilitating one, or his reference to George Patton? He's choosing to be a Harvard jerk here, whatever else he is and however else he could have framed it.

If he'd written your comment as his piece, I'd feel differently, because you pointed out issues and suggested solutions. My issue is that neither you nor I (AFAIK) know whether those solutions are any good. Can MWRA really fast-track a water main replacement/shift? Do you know? Does it require specialized contractors, and are they available? Do you run the risk of undermining the riverbank? The bike/ped advocates WERE included from the start, but they were initially denied for cost reasons before making a political case and slowing down the project. If you're going to assign that a human failing, it's selfishness, not ineptitude.

In any case, I'm not arguing that the US doesn't have issues with red tape that slow projects way, way down. I do have a problem with people attributing project slowdowns to a general "ineptitude" or "incompetence" on the part of the overworked and underpaid professionals that do this as a career, as Summers is doing and as Governor Baker has preferred to do on many occasions. You note your liberal bent - we wouldn't do this to teachers. We don't think it's okay to say that urban schools perform poorly because "those teachers are completely incompetent." That's Trump talk. We recognize the funding and overadministration issues for what they are. It's no different here.

 

[JumboBuc]

Had Summers written the piece as "a world-renowned economist and expert on labor economics" - and he is one - I would have liked his piece much better. He chose to present himself as arrogant and out-of-touch. What other conclusion can I take from his haughty and ridiculous comparison of building a bridge vs. historically rehabilitating one, or his reference to George Patton? He's choosing to be a Harvard jerk here, whatever else he is and however else he could have framed it.

If he'd written your comment as his piece, I'd feel differently, because you pointed out issues and suggested solutions. My issue is that neither you nor I (AFAIK) know whether those solutions are any good. Can MWRA really fast-track a water main replacement/shift? Do you know? Does it require specialized contractors, and are they available? Do you run the risk of undermining the riverbank? The bike/ped advocates WERE included from the start, but they were initially denied for cost reasons before making a political case and slowing down the project. If you're going to assign that a human failing, it's selfishness, not ineptitude.

In any case, I'm not arguing that the US doesn't have issues with red tape that slow projects way, way down. I do have a problem with people attributing project slowdowns to a general "ineptitude" or "incompetence" on the part of the overworked and underpaid professionals that do this as a career, as Summers is doing and as Governor Baker has preferred to do on many occasions. You note your liberal bent - we wouldn't do this to teachers. We don't think it's okay to say that urban schools perform poorly because "those teachers are completely incompetent." That's Trump talk. We recognize the funding and overadministration issues for what they are. It's no different here.

Points taken.

I would say, however, that the first step towards fixing a problem is admitting that you have one. Yes, we need experts approaching the issue of infrastructure inflation and paralysis technically, analyzing its causes, and proposing concrete solutions. But it's also important to get the public behind these efforts, and columns like this one (even with its silly Patton comparison) can accomplish this. For example, everyone who has ever actually looked at the issue of the gender pay gap knows that the "74 cents" number is completely flawed and meaningless, but that doesn't prevent it from being useful in pushing people to address the actual (systemic) issue. And when someone of Larry Summers' stature writes these columns, more people listen.

As for "you wouldn't blame the teachers", I'm not. Nobody blames the engineers or the construction workers when infrastructure projects get delayed or exceed their budgets. We blame the system. We blame the overall project management, the political motivation behind decision making, the hobbled permitting and approval process, the legal system that leads to more law suits, and the way in which contracts are awarded and overseen. The problem is systemic, just as it is in the case of failing schools.

I apologize for hijacking this thread a bit, but this is something that I'm really passionate about. I believe that our failure as a society to get infrastructure projects done in a timely and cost-effective manner is having significant deleterious effects on our overall welfare. Our shortcomings in this area lead to higher income inequality, more expensive housing, more carbon emissions, and lower overall quality of life.

 

[Equilibria]

I apologize for hijacking this thread a bit, but this is something that I'm really passionate about. I believe that our failure as a society to get infrastructure projects done in a timely and cost-effective manner is having significant deleterious effects on our overall welfare. Our shortcomings in this area lead to higher income inequality, more expensive housing, more carbon emissions, and lower overall quality of life.

I don't think you can hijack a "General Infrastructure" thread, and anyway, it's germane.

It definitely doesn't seem like "no one" blames the construction workers, engineers, and planners in these cases - claims of the "Incompetence of the MBTA" and such get thrown around quite a bit. That's definitely Summers' insinuation, as I read it. I agree with you that calling peoples' attention to these issues is important, but BSing your way through that can have consequences. If people blame our infrastructure on incompetent planning and construction, our transit on union hacks, our schools on lazy teachers... it undermines efforts to address these problems. As a society, we share responsibility for these problems and they can only be solved through collective action - additional revenue, simplified legislation, and streamlined public input. Getting people convinced that their problems are due to "general incompetence" of a "them" group accomplishes none of these things.

 

[bigpicture7]

Getting people convinced that their problems are due to "general incompetence" of a "them" group accomplishes none of these things.

Well said. I have always thought that dialog about "general incompetence" of certain (oft ignorantly stereotyped) groups is incredible unproductive yet prevalent dialog that holds back true progress on infrastructure and public works project.

Also - I repeat until I am blue in the face: whether, a) we ought to be doing a certain project in the first place, and b) whether the project is well managed are two separate issues/questions. We see, over and over, statements implying that certain projects should not even be attempted because its inevitable that we will fail miserably, squander taxpayer dollars, etc, etc. Is that the type of society we want - one that has given up? (it sounds like some readers of our local papers ignorantly want that).

 

[whighlander]

Points taken.

I would say, however, that the first step towards fixing a problem is admitting that you have one. Yes, we need experts approaching the issue of infrastructure inflation and paralysis technically, analyzing its causes, and proposing concrete solutions. But it's also important to get the public behind these efforts, and columns like this one (even with its silly Patton comparison) can accomplish this. For example, everyone who has ever actually looked at the issue of the gender pay gap knows that the "74 cents" number is completely flawed and meaningless, but that doesn't prevent it from being useful in pushing people to address the actual (systemic) issue. And when someone of Larry Summers' stature writes these columns, more people listen.

As for "you wouldn't blame the teachers", I'm not. Nobody blames the engineers or the construction workers when infrastructure projects get delayed or exceed their budgets. We blame the system. We blame the overall project management, the political motivation behind decision making, the hobbled permitting and approval process, the legal system that leads to more law suits, and the way in which contracts are awarded and overseen. The problem is systemic, just as it is in the case of failing schools.

I apologize for hijacking this thread a bit, but this is something that I'm really passionate about. I believe that our failure as a society to get infrastructure projects done in a timely and cost-effective manner is having significant deleterious effects on our overall welfare. Our shortcomings in this area lead to higher income inequality, more expensive housing, more carbon emissions, and lower overall quality of life.

JumboBuc-- as they always say -- It complicated

Consider 4 examples:

• Big Water Main Break -- MWRA
  This one was vital -- bottled water was being distributed by the National Guard to hundreds of thousands -- somehow they managed to beat the estimate and return the system to functionaliy immediately
• Replacement of the Overpass carying Toten Pond /Winter St. over Rt-128/I-95 in Waltham
  This one dragged on for the better part of decade as the fitst contractor went bankrupt and law suits clogged the system
• Replacement of the far busier, far more significant Rt-2 Overpass
  Not yet finished but proceeeding in quite reasonable fashion
• Ted williams Tunnel Ceiling colapse
  Quick Response -- temporary solution immediatly -- final solution quite expeditious

What can we learn from the 3 that are finished?
Well -- it could be that the MWRA is just better at it -- or sine the DOT managed to be fairly promt with the Ted Williams Tunnel Ceiling -- it might be that when things are really critical we can still move expeditiously

So maybe we need to identify critical infrastructure that needs fixing immediately and give the Governor and his / her designees extraordinary powers to overcome the usual bureacratic ineffeciencies

 

[Uncivil_Engineer]

Anderson Bridge seems to be (finally) finishing up:

 

[statler]

So they were doing some (what appeared to be) major roadwork on the BU Bridge last night. Considering that they recently finished a rather major reconditioning of the bridge, that's bad, right?

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

So they were doing some (what appeared to be) major roadwork on the BU Bridge last night. Considering that they recently finished a rather major reconditioning of the bridge, that's bad, right?

What type of roadwork? Google doesn't turn up any news of imminent construction in that area except for the big Comm Ave. Pike overpass replacement.

 

[statler]

I was just driving by but it looked like they were digging up the expansion joints? It was more than just filling potholes. I don't think it was related to the Mass Pike work because it was on the Cambridge side of the bridge. Might have been somehow related to the Mem Dr. work but it was pretty far up on the bridge (about halfway between the center point and the rotary.)

 

[matredsoxfan]

I was just driving by but it looked like they were digging up the expansion joints? It was more than just filling potholes. I don't think it was related to the Mass Pike work because it was on the Cambridge side of the bridge. Might have been somehow related to the Mem Dr. work but it was pretty far up on the bridge (about halfway between the center point and the rotary.)

Sounds like regular bridge maintenance. It has now been 4 or 5 years since they finished the deck on that bridge. Keeping up with the bridge maintenance will prevent salt and water from getting into the bridge abutments and piers damaging the concrete foundation structure. The lack of doing this regular maintenance over the years is the reason the bridges got so bad in the first place.