Guest Post by James L. Gordon, P. Eng.
When Astaldi demolished the half-built dome, I just could not
understand the reason for their decision. Now I know!
All hydro projects built in Northern Canada are constructed
with heated and illuminated, insulated fabric enclosures covering all concrete
work, sometimes with a small high-speed crane at the top to transport concrete
buckets and skips of re-bar. The enclosures provide an excellent 24-hour, 7
days per week work environment, greatly increasing productivity.
With the release of the EY interim report, they mentioned
that remuneration for the work undertaken is based on man-hours. Page 9, part
5.8, states –“However, the payment
mechanism is based on person-hours expended rather than m3 of concrete poured.”
This is a recipe for disaster, since the contractor, Astaldi, can increase
remuneration and hence profit, by increasing staff.
