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The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

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Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#41

Post by csomar »

ramblenode wrote: post #30
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're still doing megaprojects [1]. They're focussed on air and roads, in transportation; aerospace (defence and civil); and sports. > How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time China's population distribution (and lack of strong-form property ownership) makes intercity passenger rail a lot easier than in America. We absolutely should have it in the…

"Megaproject" seems to be used pretty loosely in this list. In my mind, renovating some airport terminals or adding extra lanes to a highway over a 10 mile stretch is not an ambitious "megaproject", just a typical infrastructure project. Certainly most of this stuff would not be considered megaprojects in China.

I think the problem is that in the US they cost as much as a "real" megaproject in China cost.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#42

Post by mplanchard »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #10
tomohelix wrote: post #3

Even before clicking, I already knew it would be in China. It has been a while since the US or other western countries have done a major public infrastructure project (compared to what have been done before). The US especially is lagging behind. How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time than the US took to argue about how to build just one line bet…

We're still doing megaprojects [1]. They're focussed on air and roads, in transportation; aerospace (defence and civil); and sports. > How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time China's population distribution (and lack of strong-form property ownership) makes intercity passenger rail a lot easier than in America. We absolutely should have it in the…

Seeing Austin’s Project Connect on there makes this list suspect, to me. It was an approved item on the ballot several years ago, but it was challenged by the state government and last I read had been substantially pared down from its already modest goals. Even in the original plan, it was “just” a relatively small number of train lines around the city, with one stretch of subway through downtown, if I recall correctly.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#43

Post by grecy »

gosub100 wrote: post #25
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sports mega project? Heh, do tell more.

billion-dollar stadiums paid for by tax dollars for those poor billionaire sports team owners because their current stadium just doesn't work anymore :(. But think of all those jobs it will add to the economy from people selling beer and hotdogs.

It’s worrying when you get downvoted on HN for telling the truth [1]

[1] https://theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/05/buffalo-bills-new-...

The way things are going I fear the day will come you’ll get downvoted for saying the earth is round or that men walked on the moon.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#44

Post by tomohelix »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #10
tomohelix wrote: post #3

Even before clicking, I already knew it would be in China. It has been a while since the US or other western countries have done a major public infrastructure project (compared to what have been done before). The US especially is lagging behind. How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time than the US took to argue about how to build just one line bet…

We're still doing megaprojects [1]. They're focussed on air and roads, in transportation; aerospace (defence and civil); and sports. > How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time China's population distribution (and lack of strong-form property ownership) makes intercity passenger rail a lot easier than in America. We absolutely should have it in the…

They are still building but none of these are at the scale China is doing. Most US projects are less than 10B, majority are around 1-2B. Meanwhile this article shows the dam China is building is over 100B.

That is why I mentioned that nothing the west is doing is that exciting, relatively. Sure, they are still large projects, but not the exciting, innovative type of "large" like Saturn V or moon landing. Just rehash and even scaled down versions of what has been achieved before.

I guess military is the only place we still see serious cutting edge advancement in US engineering. Shame that the public won't be able to benefit directly from that unlike infrastructure projects. Almost like China is taking better care of its people than the US.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#45

Post by wat10000 »

tomohelix wrote: post #3

Even before clicking, I already knew it would be in China. It has been a while since the US or other western countries have done a major public infrastructure project (compared to what have been done before). The US especially is lagging behind. How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time than the US took to argue about how to build just one line bet…

Agreed that the US is lagging behind in general, but I’m not sure if that matters here. I was under the impression that US hydroelectric capacity was already pretty much maxed out. All the good sites already have a dam.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#46

Post by tokioyoyo »

brightball wrote: post #29
tokioyoyo wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mostly North American problem, not Western. Europe is still building gigantic bridges, rails, ports and etc. Not as fast as China, but it still happens. US/Canada is stuck on financial engineering loop, instead of… engineering. Big things happen when it’s required, but it feels like there’s no public nor political appetite for it.

If you look at it from a government project standpoint, there’s still the James Webb Telescope which is a monumental achievement IMO. Outside of that, there’s plenty of private work having huge impacts like SpaceX and Starlink.

Much respect to SpaceX and NASA, and I understand their importance to long term impact. But that’s not exactly what we’re talking about. We have lost talent and expertise in making our countries better, and it takes billions of dollars to build a couple of km of subway lines. We refuse to make incremental upgrades and shoot for moonshots every time.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#47

Post by wat10000 »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #5
tomohelix wrote: post #3

Even before clicking, I already knew it would be in China. It has been a while since the US or other western countries have done a major public infrastructure project (compared to what have been done before). The US especially is lagging behind. How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time than the US took to argue about how to build just one line bet…

California is actively working on their high speed rail system. They're just doing it very slowly and at great expense.

Taking orders of magnitude more time and money is very close to not doing it at all. China built a countrywide network in less time than California has spent so far on preparing to build this one line.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#48

Post by tzs »

grecy wrote: post #43
gosub100 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

billion-dollar stadiums paid for by tax dollars for those poor billionaire sports team owners because their current stadium just doesn't work anymore :(. But think of all those jobs it will add to the economy from people selling beer and hotdogs.

It’s worrying when you get downvoted on HN for telling the truth [1] [1] https://theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/05/buffalo-bills-new-... The way things are going I fear the day will come you’ll get downvoted for saying the earth is round or that men walked on the moon.

That article mentions:

> With a median household income of under $28,000, a ticket to an NFL game is out of reach for many residents

I was curious about that, since I have no idea how much attending major league pro sports in the US costs.

According to this site [1] in 2023 the total cost (ticket, beer, hot dog, and parking) to attend a Buffalo Bills game was around $140.

The most expensive were the San Francisco 49ers at just over $200 and the Las Vegas Raiders at just under $200.

The least expensive was the Arizona Cardinals at about $110.

[1] https://www.visualcapitalist.com/nfl-ticket-cost-inflation-o...

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#49

Post by fred_is_fred »

tomohelix wrote: post #3

Even before clicking, I already knew it would be in China. It has been a while since the US or other western countries have done a major public infrastructure project (compared to what have been done before). The US especially is lagging behind. How long has it been since the high speed rail system was proposed? China built a national network in less time than the US took to argue about how to build just one line bet…

Of course it’s China, every river that could or should be dammed in the US already has been.

Re: The largest hydroelectric dam in the world has been approved

#50

Post by belter »

rmbyrro wrote: post #37
belter wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes big dam do redistribute mass and alter the Earth's rotation. But by my rough calculations the Three Gorges Dam should lengthen the day by roughly 0.05 to 0.06 microseconds. So around 1 second every 50,000 years. You are more likely to get late to work because your alarm run out of battery :-)

> You are more likely to get late to work because your alarm run out of battery :-) Or because you spend precious sleep time on pointless comments online...

And yours is a recursive comment....We might get a stackoverflow on this simulation...
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