Longest Periods Of Construction Youve Seen

[umnoscottishhootsmon 0]

I live in scotland and the bloody forth rail bridge they are constantly replacing rusty iron bits

and now the forth road bridge is is in bad need of repair that will take Edited for abuse of the number 9 key.color=blue>99million years to do

[The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz 27]

Date: 8/18/2005 7:27:30 AM Author: umnoscottishhootsmon

I live in scotland and the bloody forth rail bridge they are constantly replacing rusty iron bits

and now the forth road bridge is is in bad need of repair that will take Edited for abuse of the number 9 key.color=blue>99million years to do

quote>

Not to mention the Scottish Parliament...

[b007 0]

I live north of Boston and I-93 is constantly getting paved. In the summer, it gets paved for months, then in the winter, the snow comes, and the plows ruin the roads. It's just an ongoing problem.

 

And I can't mention Boston withoug mentioning the Big Dig. It's taking forever to finish this. Why? Because of poor planning back in the day. They plan to make a tunnel.. but they can't just make a tunnel because there is a knot of electrical and wire tubes under the ground.. Ok, then there is a  35-story building and then under it, there's a bust station, and then under it there is a subway and the ground won't be stable enough to build. So then they freeze the ground. Then the other damn tunnels, (the I-93 one with the leaks) Is always under constructuion because they need to repair the leaks. And if you drive around Boston, it is a hassle because there IS ALWAYS construction going on that is not related to the Big Dig.  Another problem is the one-way roads. Ok dad, get off exit 24A to get to Mass General. Ok which way do I go right or left? Err...left? *dad takes a left* Crap it was a right! We can't go back cuz it's a one-way road! Ok, I'll just circle around the block. Crap, it's a one-way road! *next set of lights* Crap it's a on-way road *next set of lights* God damnit, it's a one-way road!

 

[Dan Ryan 0]

I-80 and I-94 From Chicago, IL to Valporaiso, IN (30 miles) the construction lasted for 2 years now and wont be done until may of 2006. There is an Interchange by my house. Matter of fact 4 Burr St, Grant, Broadway St AND i-65. All under construction as well as the highway itself and the traffic is bad. For as long as i could remember going down I-80 going out of Chicago into Indiana to get to I-65  was ruff. The traffic is backed up, The state is constantly fixing on it, and many accidents and I-90 Indiana Toll Rd and Chicago Skyway is just too far north. Let me take you back to 1996 when i was about 7. My parents used to take me to North Carolina on our way thru Chicago, IL from Rockford, IL 9where we lived at the time). When we turned on to I-80/I-94 in Tinley Park, IL it was bumper to bumper all the way to I-65 and it would be a relief to get on I-65 South. I-80/94 is the worst freeway in Indiana

[slightlyslack 22]

Santa Monica Boulevard in western Los Angeles between the Beverly Hills city limit and the San Diego Freeway (I-405).  It's only been going on since 2003, but nobody has any idea what the hell is actually being done on it.  Supposedly it's being turned into a transit parkway with a landscaped median and bus-only inner lanes, or somesuch, but the project also includes a complete rebuild of the roadbed, so it's going to go on probably for at least another year or two.  They re-stripe the lanes every day, it seems, so you never know exactly where the road is!

I think the winter and construction thing applies anywhere in the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region.  I'm originally from the Chicago area and thanks to blisteringly cold winters and heavy spring and autumn rains, pavement--whether asphalt or concrete--just doesn't last very long.  If a segment of expressway can go ten years between complete rebuilds, it's a miracle.  (By contrast, many of the roads and freeways in Los Angeles that were built for a 25-year lifetime have managed to make it 35-40 years without breaking down too badly; the aforementioned I-710, alas, is not one of these, although it gets the crap beaten out of it by freight haulers on a daily basis.)

[brancra 1,216]

I live in a small town in upstate New York, but that doesn't mean they work quick around here. The two main roads into town are both bridges, one goes over the interstate and the other over a river.  In 1995 they decided to rebuild the bridges, and these were only about 1/4 mile long at the most. They just finished the second bridge...ten freakin' years later. You had to go three miles west to get to another bridge for the interstate, and four for the river. Talk about hassles. Years went by before someone called the local Your Stories segment for a news station in Syracuse,  asking why it wasn't complete. Labor disputes my keister. Now they're building a steel-arch in a neighbouring town, planning to finish it in a four-year span.

But then, like Minnesota, we have winter. But we have four seasons. Winter, Still Winter, Construction, Almost Winter.

 

EDIT: sp

[ardecila 125]

Two words: my house's addition.

The construction was supposed to be finished by JUNE. They've messed everything up and we've had to redo everything at least once, and we're barely halfway done now.

*groans*

[Shadow Assassin 336]

No such problems here.

Mainly, they only do work in favourable conditions. In other words, it must not be raining.

Here, we're practically in the middle of a drought, and a big building boom. The cross-city tunnel under the CBD has been finished four months ahead of schedule, thanks to the good weather.

And the Sydney Orbital will be finished ahead of schedule by a year. Take that.

[Simguyuk 0]

Date: 7/26/2005 6:45:46 AM Author: frogface

Date: 7/26/2005 6:24:50 AM Author: Emozo i think that this is just a fact of life- notra dame took over 200 years to build, i would just get boared after that long!

quote>

and Cologne Cathedral took 900 years to build

here its not construction that takes the longest but all the red tape before it. for example: London's Crossrail, it was first proposed in 1920 and construction still hasnt started although its meant to be done by 2016

quote>

 

Arent they thinking that thye might want to puch that forward to 2012?

[frogface 354]

^^ I havent heard anything about it, but it makes more sense to get it ready in time for the olympics. the crossrail website is mysteriously elusive about any completion dates or anything

[+Guest JetRanger]

Where I live (
Atlanta) we don't have many problems with Georgia 400. Even in my hometown, New York, there aren't many huge problems or ongoing ones with highway and road construction.

[DJGspinNhitz 7]

construction in PA near where I lived while going to school, took the 3+ years to pave 2.5 miles, and that left 5 more to go, took them 5 years supposed to be done in 2, the bypass supposed to be done in 2004 still not done, and then there is the commute to my ex's place in NYC the GW always a mess. PA road are beat to death by trucks, and extremes in temperature b/t summer and winter. Truck especially are a problem since 1 truck = 8 cars i read somewhere in terms of raod wear. I hate PA b/cthey keep building new road when they can't even maintain the old ones. They'll build a 4 lane bypass to take traffic off a 4 lane commercail road,but the increase in traffic makes the new road a bumper to bumper mess before it is even done. They need to rethink things, build 6-8 lane highways, expand old ones, turning lanes and computer timed and triggers lights that read traffic flow and adjust times, limit shop entrances,that is use 1 entrance to service 3 or more shoppes instead of everyone having its own traffic stopper. It might not matter a gas prices hit 3.00 per gallon, and I drive a car that get 25-28mpg and it cost $30.00 to fill, if I was still in school commuting, I would be spending $200.00 to go to school alone each month not counting work. tthat would be 1/4 to 1/5 of my income depending on schedule. I don't know how people afford those gas guzzling SUV's, I'd go broke on my salary. Will we ever learn? oh I forgot we are stupid we elected the SHRUB..sorry world....I did vote for the other guy.

[fivedayrental 0]

Pa is pretty bad for road work. One way I used to drive to school was done I-81 from Scranton down to Harrisburg (to get onto 83 to yorK) then I stopped taking that last October (sr year in college) bc they seemed to be taking at least 3 years to fix up about 20 miles of it down by Lebanon and I checke penn dot Saturday and they are still working on it for about another year. The way I go now to school is connecting onto 78 in Allentown but right one when you outside of  city limits, ithink, there is massive congestion since the 2 lanes become 1. I swear it took me about 25 minutes to go 4 miles to the end of the merge point to when the road for 4 miles become 1 lane (averaging at 35). I think they started that sometime last year or early this year, i'm not sure but there is always construction or maintence everywhere.

[Compromise 1]

Transit construction is not new to London. Both the Victoria Line and Jubliee lines were planned just after World War 2 but wern't built to many years later.

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Long Construction? Two Words 'Spinnaker Tower' due for completion late 1999? it aint open yet Its been finished for a few weeks now but www.spinnakertower.co.uk still lacks an opening date.

The Gunwharf Quays complex itself (to which the spinnaker is the centerpiece) began construction in 96/97, opening in feburary 1999. But it wont be completly finished until about late 06, early 07 with the completion of Eastside Plaza.

[Gryphonite 0]

The Thameslink 2000 rail project (like Crossrail but the other way), a good example of why you shouldn't put a date in a projects name. From what I can work out its not even a big project, they just want to make London Bridge and Blackfriars stations a bit bigger and extend the thameslink services along already existing lines, but nothings happened. I believe a decision by John Prescott is awaited, so expect to see something happen in about 2015.

[Astroman 0]

The longest construction periods that i ever saw is I4 from Tampa to Orlando when i ever go to Walt Disney World.

[Newguy1717 1]

I am new to Boston this year mainly becuase I go to college here, but I am a native of New Hampshire and would visit Boston often and I must say that Boston has the worst luck when it comes to building things. If I can remeber correctly, when building the John Hancock Tower, the glass windows would pop out of place and fall on to the street below. I'm not even going to go near whats going on with the big dig, but that project has been going on since before I was born (I'm 18 ). Also another thing is that the college I am going to just built a new dormitory, and a month before the campus opened and ppl started moving in, the glass windows began popping out of that too. I think that overall, if Boston is going to plan anything, they should plan over budget becuase its going to cost more than they think any ways, and get stronger windows...

and the John Hancock Tower is not a small building:

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//arch_jhancock.gif align=baseline>

[Meg 368]

Date: 8/1/2005 10:52:51 AM Author: MadTV_Freak Here is one, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge that joins Maryland with Virginia. I swear it is taking them forever to do that. In 1999 they said the construction of the project will be done is 2006. Well now the workers are sayig it will take another 6 years for the project to be done. Plus, to make the project even longer, they plan on making a harbor on the Potomac River called The National Harbor. Ramps will join the highway with the harbor.  If anyone wants to find out more about the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, go to www.wilsonbridge.com   If you want to find out about the harbor, go to www.nationalharbor.com Here is a rendering of the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge  '

quote>

The entire Springfield Interchange project is currently scheduled to take 11 years.

Springfield Interchange Improvement Project Schedule

 

They have some photos of it here .

[spa 970]

Actually when I stop to think about the worst construction I have ever seen or to be more precise heard was when the university where I did my undergrad decided to build a new building to replace the old outdated classrooms. I was living in residence at the time and the site was right outside my window. So I had the enjoyable experience of jackhammers starting at 7:00 and going all day. To add insult to injury it took them the whole year just to dig the pit which was only about the floor size of two standared houses. On the weekends when it rained ducks actually moved in. It was pathetic.

[drew 0]

Date: 8/1/2005 10:52:51 AM
Author: MadTV_Freak
Here is one, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge that joins Maryland with Virginia. I swear it is taking them forever to do that. In 1999 they said the construction of the project will be done is 2006. Well now the workers are sayig it will take another 6 years for the project to be done. Plus, to make the project even longer, they plan on making a harbor on the Potomac River called The National Harbor. Ramps will join the highway with the harbor. If anyone wants to find out more about the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, go to www.wilsonbridge.com If you want to find out about the harbor, go to www.nationalharbor.com


Here is a rendering of the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge





'

quote>

To add to that note, the National Harbor project is actually
taking over an abandoned project a decade ago. back in the
90's, a private contractor was going to put in a simialar
planned city called Port of America. Clear cutting was done
and is part of the reason that the 295 extention ramp from
210 is there. The two tall buildings out of Oxon Hill
(Newest 13 story near the center of town and one next to the
park and ride off 210) were supposed to be part of Port of
America as well. However the company wanted to stick some
real tall structures by the Potomac River but got gunned
down by the FAA because flight paths would be disrupted
landing at National Airport. Eventually the company had
de-excavate the land they started to build on and cover it
all up and became bankrupt. Government comes in and they
stick their plot of land, National Harbor!

However, this couldn't be done right away, at least not
until dealing with the locals complaining of eco and sprawl
impacts.. The Wilson Bridge had to be completed along side
the project as well. The whole debate went on during
primarily throughout and before the Clinton era. You see,
this bridge was only supposed to carry an estimated 75,000
commuters at a time. About a decade after it was finished
in 1961, it was carring well over 200,000 cars a day, more
than 3 times its intended capacity. Today more than a
million use that bridge daily to commute around the DC area.
You see, this thing was always a planned expanision, its
just no one had the authority to do anything about it. But
construction broke ground in 2000, (or at least I believe
so, correct me if I'm wrong.)

At least now that they are in mid-phase, everything is on
track and on budget I believe. (Both the National Harbor
and Wilsion Bridge Project with due completion in 2008 and
the entire strech of the beltway interchanges in 2012)


Included some great pictures here of construction of the
Wilson Bridge and span in my first post there.

Date: 9/15/2005 11:25:56 PM
Author: SkiGeek

The entire Springfield Interchange project is currently scheduled to take 11 years.

Springfield Interchange Improvement Project Schedule

They have some photos of it here .

quote>
This is our 'mixing bowl' of sorts and boy it has problems.

Gee wiz.. I know about that intersection. I've driven there
a whole bunch of times and every time it looks like 1 more
thing has been done... thats it. I've seen this thing
since it broke ground way back in the 90's. I hear that
they were supposed to have finished by this year but
due to poor project mangement and money squandering (and
yes even a few deaths) this project has tacked on another
few years. Heh... at least traffic in this area flows
ever so slightly better.

[hym 358]

I got a good one: I35 in Texas is a moving parking lot.  They started a mass overhaul in the 70's and they haven't finished yet.

[MarkSK 0]

I'm living in Slovakia and here is construction sometimes(or many?) veeery slooooow.

Many buildings from 80's aren't finished, but what we talk about more often here is highways/roads.

I must tell, when they finished highway bridge in 1985 across Danube in Bratislava, only exits were built, highway itself not, well, at least in November they are going to open missing 4km of highway. 

Or one underpass for 17mil.$ is building in downtown of small city Prievidza(180km from Bratislava)    8 years, and now they want build another one...fools. But they promised to finish it soon.

Also, some highway constructions are abandoned for 8+ years(some are finishing now), and someone is packing his pockets.