From: jgrove24@hotmail.com   
      
   On Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 5:15:54 PM UTC-5, Leroy N. Soetoro wrote:   
   > http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-bullet-train-cost-final-   
   > 20151025-story.html   
   >   
   > The monumental task of building California's bullet train will require   
   > punching 36 miles of tunnels through the geologically complex mountains   
   > north of Los Angeles.   
   >   
   > Crews will have to cross the tectonic boundary that separates the North   
   > American and Pacific plates, boring through a jumble of fractured rock   
   > formations and a maze of earthquake faults, some of which are not mapped.   
   >   
   > It will be the most ambitious tunneling project in the nation's history.   
   >   
   > State officials say the tunnels will be finished by 2022 -- along with 300   
   > miles of track, dozens of bridges or viaducts, high-voltage electrical   
   > systems, a maintenance plant and as many as six stations. Doing so will   
   > meet a commitment to begin carrying passengers between Burbank and Merced   
   > in the first phase of the $68-billion high-speed rail link between Los   
   > Angeles and San Francisco.   
   >   
   > However, a Times analysis of project documents, as well as interviews with   
   > scientists, engineers and construction experts, indicates that the   
   > deadline and budget targets will almost certainly be missed -- and that the   
   > state has underestimated the challenges ahead, particularly completing the   
   > tunneling on time.   
   >   
   > "It doesn't strike me as realistic," said James Monsees, one of the   
   > world's top tunneling experts and an author of the federal manual on   
   > highway tunneling. "Faults are notorious for causing trouble."   
   >   
   > The California High-Speed Rail Authority hasn't yet chosen an exact route   
   > through the mountains. It also is behind schedule on land acquisition,   
   > financing and permit approvals, among other crucial tasks, and is facing   
   > multiple lawsuits. The first construction began in Fresno in July, 21/2   
   > years behind the target the rail authority had set in early 2012.   
   >   
   > A confidential 2013 report by the state's main project management   
   > contractor, New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff, estimated that the cost   
   > of building the first phase from Burbank to Merced had risen 31% to $40   
   > billion. And it projected that the cost of the entire project would rise   
   > at least 5%.   
   >   
   > Parsons Brinckerhoff briefed state officials on the estimate in October   
   > 2013, according to the document obtained by The Times. But the state used   
   > a lower cost estimate when it issued its 2014 business plan four months   
   > later.   
   >   
      
   Still cheaper than the 100 bombers Penta-doggle wants:   
      
   "In an announcement at the Pentagon that took industry experts by surprise,   
   the Air Force said Northrop had beaten a team from Boeing Co. and Lockheed   
   Martin Corp. to build 80 to 100 long-range bombers over the next decade.   
      
   The project's cost could eventually exceed $80 billion, making it one of the   
   most expensive in the Pentagon's history.....   
   Critics say the cost of the contract is bound to skyrocket, similar to what   
   happened when Northrop built the B-2 bomber in the 1980s.   
      
   That contract was so far over budget that the Pentagon decided to build just   
   21 of the 132 aircraft it had originally planned. The average cost of each B-2   
   soared to more than $2 billion."   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-air-force-contract-stealth-b   
   mber-20151027-story.html   
      
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