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Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

istderberschonfertig.de

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Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#31

Post by id »

phreeza wrote: post #7

As an explanation for non-germans: Berlin is supposed to get a new airport, the BER, but the project is massively mismanaged, and already way over schedule and budget. Recently, for the first time, a schedule for completion has been released. This site provides a way to track the progress made on this schedule.

They released many schedules over the years, the first announced opening date was 1997 [1]. They even postponed dates for the announcement of (new) dates.

[1] http://www.bertrug.de/Geplante_Inbetriebnahmen_Flughafen_BER

Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#32

Post by weinzierl »

Someone1234 wrote: post #15
probably_wrong wrote: post #6

For those that are not aware, the delays regarding the Berlin Airport are a running joke by now. And to add insult to injury, there are estimations that the new airport may already be too small to handle the projected number of flights to and from Berlin. Just like the Therac-25[1] is used a a case study for proper software engineering, I'm positive the BER will be taught in engineering schools as a cautionary tale o…

Was it an engineering problem? Why would you teach this in engineering school? Looks like the project was hopelessly mismanagement, so likely above the heads of the engineers.

There are different opinions but most people don't think it was a engineering problem. From the beginning the project had three responsible managers with different interests: Klaus Wowereit (Governing Mayor of Berlin), Matthias Platzeck (Minister-President of Brandenburg) and Meinhard von Gerkan (famous Architect).

Meinhard von Gerkan published a book about the project, offering his view: Blackbox BER [1]

[1] http://www.amazon.de/Black-Box-BER-Brandenburg-Gro%C3%9Fbaus...

Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#33

Post by kayoone »

Loque wrote: post #4

I quite like the site, having lived in Berlin for a little bit I am also aware of the fact the new airport is quite a discussion point... personally I will be sad to see Tegel go as it represents simple air travel which just worked (maybe just lucky for me)... Schonefeld was never that enjoyable in comparison, but meh, it's just a means to an end :-). Also, I think many people who have setup buildings/shops in Berlin…

Tegel might be efficient once you know your way around, but god is it a confusing claustrophobic mess.

Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#34

Post by synacksynack »

ptaipale wrote: post #5
gerbal wrote: post #2

Wasn't that airport supposed to be open in 2010?

When planning the project in 2000, the tentative opening was planned for 2007, but that was clearly too optimistic even if everything had been done properly. The attempt to actually open in 2012 was quite serious, and transfer from TXL was supposed to be just weeks away after the final acceptance round (which then failed spectacularly).

To corroborate its seriousness, I actually had a ticket issued to BER in 2012 that was changed to TXL about a month before the flight.

Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#35

Post by gherkin0 »

ptaipale wrote: post #5
gerbal wrote: post #2

Wasn't that airport supposed to be open in 2010?

When planning the project in 2000, the tentative opening was planned for 2007, but that was clearly too optimistic even if everything had been done properly. The attempt to actually open in 2012 was quite serious, and transfer from TXL was supposed to be just weeks away after the final acceptance round (which then failed spectacularly).

I was actually scheduled to fly home out of BER in 2012. I don't know how much lead time the airline actually had, but I only found out a few weeks before that my flight changed to TXL.

Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#37

Post by oxalo »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #28
ptaipale wrote: post #3

Fun page. The whole BER project and its delays is such an astonishing example of management that it is hard to believe it happened. I first thought it could only happen in some 3rd world country, but in fact, it couldn't happen in a 3rd world country. In a 3rd world country, the political leadership would simply jail bureaucrats until someone signs off the safety papers and says, go ahead and open the airport, never…

This actually happens a lot in high profile architectural projects. Probably more so than most people think: http://architizer.com/blog/architectures-over-budget-hall-of... You can also add the very high profile WTC Transportation Hub and the City of Arts and Sciences as well; both Calatrava projects that went way over budget.

I'd be interested to see the opposite of this... a list of high-profile projects that were under budget. Or at least minimally over budget.

Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#38

Post by sageabilly »

panamafrank wrote: post #26

So they built the terminals with a novel smoke extraction system where the smoke extraction vents were placed on the floor rather than the ceiling, upon the final fire safety inspection the buildings didn't pass and given the complete integration of the system with the structure the only realistic option was to pretty much rip them down and start again.

"...novel smoke extraction system where the smoke extraction vents were placed on the floor": How does that make any sense whatsoever? Are there any links explaining how it's supposed to work?

Re: Is the Berlin Airport ready yet?

#40

Post by aetherson »

kennon42 wrote: post #36

For you German speakers, this is a hilarious article (on the German answer to The Onion) about having to create a new verb tense in order to discuss the airport: http://www.der-postillon.com/2012/08/neue-zeitform-futur-iii... (2012)

Wow. That's incredible. I'm not really literate enough in German to get that many of the jokes, but just the headline is awesome.
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