Fast vs. Slow

examples of physical progress happening fast vs. slow.

Buildings

• The Empire State Building. Built 1930-31 (410 days). 102 stories. 90 years latter is still an icon. Cost $40M ($560M in 2022).
• The One (Toronto). Started Nov 2017. Estimated completion 2024. 94 Stories. 7 Years to build (estimated), total cost of $1.5 Billion.
• India’s New Parliament. Built in 2.5 years for less than $125M.

Bridges

• The Gold Gate Bridge . Built 1933-37 (4 yrs) = $530M in 2022 $'s. 1.4 km, saves 10 M's of ppl hours.
• The Confederation Bridge. 1993 -98 (4 yrs) = $1.9B . 13km, saves 100K's off ppl hrs.
• The Champlain Bridge. 2015-19 (4 yrs) = $4.2B. 3.4 km, saves 10's M of ppl hours.

Highways

Example

• The Alaska Highway. Built 1942. 2,700 kms roadway were built over the course of 234 days ( < 1 year), connecting eastern British Columbia with Fairbanks, Alaska. Cost $135M = $2.2B Today.
• In 2022 fixing (not building) 200kms of the Trans-CanHwy will take years, and cost $1B+

Example

• Trans Canada HW1 (7500 kms of road) coast to coast. Built in 10 years (1950-1960) for $1B (Todays $).
• 4 Lane'ing highway 69 from Toronto to Sudbury (350 km). Started 1990 - ongoing (30 yrs). Cost $1B + plus.

Public Transit

Example

• Yonge St Line 1 Subway. Construction 1949 - 1954. $67M cost ($820M Today)
• Ellington LRT. Construction started 2011 - still going (12 years). Current cost = $11.5 Billion and counting.

Example

• The New York Subway. Started 02/21/1900. 28 stations openedon 10/271904, 4.7 years later. In April 2000, the MTA decided to build the Second Avenue Subway. The first phase, with 3 stations, opened on January 1 2017.

Example

• Florida Brightline.

Buildings

Example

• The CN Tower. Built from Feb 6 1973 - June 26, 1973 (3.5 years) Cost $63M = $421M now. Worlds largest structure. Massive impact to Canadians.
• It now takes us 5+ years to build a mid-rise building for north of $500M. We have better machines, labour, tools, and tech.

Example

• The Pentagon. The worlds largest office building. Decision on Thursday. Drawings un Sunday. Construction started 2 months later. Sept 1941 - Jan 1943. 491 days. Cost $83M or $1.2 Billion Today.
• Apple Park. Conceived 2006. Construction started 2013. Opened 2017. 4 Years and $5 Billion cost. The worlds largest & richest company.

Mega Projects

• 1860, in 5 days !! 6 engineers, with 600 workers and 6k jacks, raised 1 acre of buildings (The Row on Lake Street, Chicago) 1.5M in elevation. 35K Tonnes. Best part ppl were still shopping.

Example

• Oconee Nuclear Power Plant. Built 1967-73 (6 Years). Cost $91M. $2.4B in 2022. At a cost of $181 / kW. Still running 50 yrs generating 22,206 GWh annually.

Ships

• The USS Nautilus. The worlds first nuclear submarine. Started July 1951, in service 1954. 1,173 days later. Cost $58.2M or $680M in 2022.
• The USS Gerald Ford. Started August 2005. Completed 22 July 2017. 12 years. Cost $18 Billion.

Software

Example

• JavaScript. Brendan Eich implemented the first prototype for JavaScript in 10 days, in May 1995. It shipped in beta in September of that year. Powers 98% of Websites on the internet.
• Arrive Can App. An app, should have been built in a weekend. Cost $50M. Used for 1.5 years and hated. Thrown away.

Example

• Git. Linus Torvalds started 4/3/05. Self-hosting in 4 days. 17 days later released. 100m+ devs us it. Largest source code host in the world.
• eHealth Ontario. Started 2002. Cancelled 2009. 7yrs. Cost $8B. 2016 Auditor General determined nothing of value was ever delivered.