From
The Los Angeles Times:
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.
This should come as no surprise. The numbers have been cooked by Jerry Brown from the beginning. It's part of his legacy.
Last year, San Francisco engineering firm URS prepared a planning document that projected an increase of 15%, or nearly $1 billion, in the cost of building the line from Bakersfield to Fresno. URS said that it had been "instructed" by the state to hold costs to the same level as 2012 but that the company was refusing to do so.
The rail authority said later in a rebuttal letter to URS that its statements were misleading and inaccurate. The agency told The Times that the matter was part of a legal dispute that it did not want to publicly discuss. The company no longer has the contract.
It so easy to read between the lines on the State's decision not to renew their contract.
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