Another cost over run! Wow! Gotta blame the NDP for that.

I dont really see this as a dissapointment..A set back Yes!However this is the world of engineering for you. Everything looks good on paper and the budget is all good until you actually break ground.. This is just a case of politicians setting un-timely goals for themselves..The cheif engineer is probaly laughing at Bond right now..

Well, the soil conditions were not what they were suppose to be, thus a huge amount of gravel was brought in.

As far as the track record goes, Shirley is correct. In fact. Hixon Bridge has come in under budget, The climb up the BCR site is way below budget. I do believe the Stoner Creek came in below budget.

You really can not blame the soils engineers on this either, you could not dig out the whole thing and then engineer it. Even if you did, it would only prove that it would need more gravel. Thus the government would had to have paid for it anyway.

Over budget! What a surprise! How can this happen? Oh my gosh!
Same Stuff, different day.
Politicians assume that costs for projects like this can be accurately projected, they are usually wrong. Especially with an overly ambitious idiotic design. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with the location and layout of this project?
Would it not have been less costly to locate this weigh station on a flat and straight section of highway?
Or did the ministry of highways get a relly good deal on a hill.
metalman.

Unfortunately, it ended up where it is, because of available land, and its still relatively close to the city, and does not impede on traffic flow, and future traffic flow.

Eventually we will get a bridge across the Fraser with the Boundary road extension, thus it had to be south of the Willow Cale, so truckers can not drive around the scale. So give them credit to find the location.

Surprisingly, the MoTH, are doing all the little things correctly. Its easy for the average commentors to take shots at government workers, without having all the information. They are easy targets, but once you see their points of view, you realize, that they are no different than anyone else. All, they want to do is to spend their budget money wisely.

just drive south of Willow Cale. There is lots of flat land available. Who sold them this parcel of land? Any chance it was a Liberal supporter?

It was built on a hill intentionally - thank the green movement for that. Less braking for a truck to slow down up a hill and easier acceleration (less fuel) on the downhill to leave.

"It was built on a hill intentionally - thank the green movement for that. Less braking for a truck to slow down up a hill and easier acceleration (less fuel) on the downhill to leave"

Interceptor, think about that for 10 seconds.
You now should realize how ridiculous your reasoning is.

metalman that location has always puzzled me also. I always thought the flat fourlane down the road would have been better and much cheaper. Widen the four lane and put the scales in the middle.

I wonder if there was any Gagliardi-izm going on with acquiring property at the present location. Just wondering.

Seamutt, the scale is going to be in the middle of the four lanes.

Actually, MoTH provides fair compensation for the land, the other option is expropriation and the judge decides the value. Most people goes with some negotiations and bows out to the needs of the many.

Cost overrun .... soils is most certainly a very valid reason.

What was fair compensation for a side of a hill? Who got it? I'd like to know.

Compensation per hectare would probably be quite similar along the highway within a 20 km stretch, so cost of land acquisition would not likely play a big factor.

Soils encountered outside of the test holes is most certainly a key factor.

Maybe it was the same soils engineering firm that flubbed the Univeristy Hill geotech evaluation.

Depends on whether he was going to develop a dune buggy (remember those?) track there. If so, he could have gotten a lot .... LOL

Fair compensation, the MoTh, recognizes that you are talking about peoples homes, sure it may not be pristine, but its their castle. Thus, they make sure that they are not left destitures. The other hand is, that MoTH will not over pay. Thus fair means for both sides.

just like them ! those idiots at transport office prove that they cant even do this project right ! complete idiots

So the highway goes past the new weigh scale on both sides then? That's what I thought was the original plan, which makes a lot of sense to me. But if so, now the highway is going to bend and go up a new, man made hill, why? Not sure if I buy the green opinion, saving on brakes and fuel, but there are a lot crazier ideas out there, like for example LEEDS construction, or medium sized cities buying up real estate for more than it is really worth, and eroding their tax base in the process.
metalman.

Metalman, I don't know how they are going to deal with the railway crossing as of right now. Thus the road may have a gentler curve. That would likely be done in a couple of years.

Surprising the north bound lanes on the otherside of the new scale is a cut and not a fill. The big fill you see of the highway now are the approaches to the scale.

The inside lanes are going to have a weight in motion system, where the trucks are being weighted at 100 km and hour. Than a light goes on if your close to the max, and you go up to the scale. It is pretty high tech.

My, My, My ... funny how a story creates so many "sidewalk engineers".

The location was chosen after a large number of area owner consultations and everyone who had a concern was invited to express those concerns. Those expressed concerns affected/determined the choice of location as well as the choice of non-location.

The affected landowners were fairly compensated at fair market pricing.

The scale design incorporates modern technology, WIM equipment, GPS validation, entry/exit bar coding and monitoring, TRiptik wireless tracking and a new home for commericial vehicle inspection services. Fully operational service will see 24 hour activity. (you will notice that I have not mentioned the barbed wire compound and the machine gun towers... I think those were dropped from the original design !! ... and so were the overhead radiant dope-sniffer lamp standards :-)

Two lanes south and two lanes north with the control tower in the middle is very efficient. The entry and exit and bypass grades are ideal for all traffic flow and control. Nobody is going to miss a gear or have a "burp" in their seat. Most will not even notice the scale shack.

Lighting and signage will be clean and easy. Winter on site conditions will be safe and considerate.

The construction delays have nothing to do with MOTH... (libel laws prevent me from stating what or who has caused the delays, both from a construction and financial perspective.) :-0)

IMO there should be NO cost "over-runs" on this project.

However when someone has an overt advantage in a given situation, there tends to be more than subliminal persuasion at hand.

Some like to say that is how success is measured in the free enterprize system... although it seems to also work in the non-free system just as well !!

Glad to see the old scale gone... along with the traffic nightmares, scratched fenders and high blood pressure ...

Peace and blessings....

V.

Why was the scale put up on such a high man made hill and not kept relatively on grade with the actual highway ? I would see winter time access up and down that hill as an issue.

Over budget? How about a "tipping jar" on the window ledge? Given the fact that most guys who work in that MoT aspect are jerks,(notice I said most, not all) they'd be lucky to get 10 cents a month in gratuitys.

geez you guys...group hug eh?
I mean...Shirley Bond is on the job and how could she possibly not know something about building highways and weigh scales?
Everything must be right...right?