In addition to property, the rail authority still needs permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and

There s been quite a bit of good reporting done on the bullet-train carnival cruise lines mobile fiasco. Mike Rosenberg of the San Jose Mercury-News and Lance Williams of California Watch jump to mind. But Ralph Vartabedian of the Los Angeles Times probably deserves carnival cruise lines mobile top honors.
Vartabedian s smart, nuanced beat reporting carnival cruise lines mobile points discerning readers toward the truth namely, carnival cruise lines mobile that California s project makes Boston s Big Dig look like a work of efficient genius. The latest example was his piece this week on why and how some of the bullet train s most ardent and longtime defenders have turned on the project carnival cruise lines mobile . It s full of interesting specifics that set up his future reporting on court fights over the project carnival cruise lines mobile s legality.
But it s more than just this sort of sharp professionalism. Bullet train followers know all about Quentin Kopp s misgivings and the lies and deceptions that have marked the project since well before it won $9.95 billion in bond seed money from state voters in 2008. Here s what Vartabedian has done that is exceptional: His reporting has shown the bullet train fiasco is even worse than we imagined!
Construction of California s high-speed rail network is supposed to start in just six months, but the state hasn t acquired a single acre along the route and faces what officials are calling a challenging schedule to assemble hundreds of parcels needed in the Central Valley.
The complexity of getting federal, carnival cruise lines mobile state and local regulatory approvals for the massive $68-billion project has already pushed back the start of construction to July from late last year. Even with that additional time, however, the state is facing a risk of not having the property to start major construction work near Fresno as now planned.
It hopes to begin making purchase offers for land in the next several weeks. But that s only the first step in a convoluted legal process that will give farmers, businesses and homeowners leverage to delay the project by weeks, if not months, and drive up sales prices, legal experts say.
Delays carnival cruise lines mobile in starting construction could set in motion a chain reaction of problems that would jeopardize the politically and financially sensitive timetable for building the $6-billion first leg of the system.
In addition to property, the rail authority still needs permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and approval by the San Joaquin Valley carnival cruise lines mobile Air Pollution Control District, two more potential choke points that Morales says can be navigated.
The sheer scale and scope of the bullet train s push into Southern California, carnival cruise lines mobile including carnival cruise lines mobile traversing complex seismic hazards, would rival construction of the state s massive freeway system, water transport networks and its port complexes. It is likely to be viewed in future decades as an engineering marvel or a costly folly. ..
The plan calls for bullet trains to shoot east from Bakersfield at 220 mph, climbing one of the steepest sustained high-speed rail inclines in the world. It would soar over canyons on viaducts as high as a 33-story skyscraper. The line would duck in and out of tunnels up to 500 feet below the rugged surface. It would cross more than half a dozen earthquake faults heading toward L.A.
Tunneling machines as long as a football field will have to be jockeyed into mountain canyons to do the heavy, back-breaking work once left to Chinese carnival cruise lines mobile laborers. New access roads and a corridor for high-voltage power lines will have to be carved through the Tehachapis to feed power-hungry trains. When completed and fully operational, the bullet train will need an estimated 2.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity each day about a quarter of Hoover Dam s average daily output.
One measure of the topographic challenge: Over that 141 miles from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, up to 59% of the track would run in tunnels or on viaducts, according to preliminary planning documents.
At this point, the rail authority estimates it will cost about $7.7 billion to build the 83 miles of rail from Bakersfield to Palmdale and about $12.5 billion to build the 58 miles of rail from Palmdale to Union Station.
California s bullet train will have to operate over some of the nation s most seismically active terrain . There are half a dozen faults between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, including the White Wolf and San Andreas, both capable of producing a 7.5 magnitude quake. Where high viaducts are near faults, engineers are considering reinforced concrete structures that would resist ground motion and have containment carnival cruise lines mobile features to prevent a derailed bullet train from plunging to the ground . At full speed, however, a bullet train would need four to five miles to make an emergency stop on level ground, and longer going downhill.
carnival cruise lines mobile I don t know how anyone could read this without thinking about every other sentence, The state of California is competent to pull this off? Nor do I think anyone could read this and think the bullet train will only cost $68 billion. Triple that at least.
It s a gamble, and not one to be taken lightly. But gasoline isn t going to get any cheaper in the future and the freeways aren t going to get less clogged. We think California can find a way to get the train built. We think it can. We think it can .
Tags: " Quentin carnival cruise lines mobile Kopp , "The Little Engine carnival cruise lines mobile That Could , boondoggle carnival cruise lines mobile , Browndoggle , bullet train , Chris Reed , folly , high-speed rail , Lance Williams , Los Angeles Times , media , Mike Rosenberg , Ralph Vartabedian
At this point the only question is how much money the Trainiacs will waste before this boondoggle goes off the rails for good. My guess would be $9.95 billion. Crazyfornia voters carnival cruise lines mobile are the biggest suckers on planet earth.
I m gussing it will cost twice the amount the entire project, as projected now, just to build the Bakersfield to LA section. It won t be an engineering marval, it with be a miracle to navigate that section. And thats just building the rail line. The political and legal process may dwarf even that. What were we thinking in voting for this horrific mess(I didn t ).
I m also thinking the planners of this project are expecting there won t be any earthquakes during the construction phase. Many times, the ability of these bridges to stand earthquakes are dependent on the finished design. Just how earthquake proof are these bridges DURING construction.
Hey, they re going to have dropouts and felons given jobs preferences for working on this boondoggle. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing to worry about going 200 MPH thirteen stories above the San Andreas fault.
Now there is a youtube video not to miss. When the train traveling 200mph, flies off the bridge when it falls down during an earthquake. A remake of Bridge over the river Kwai is in order. I m sure that train crash will make Kwai look tame.
It may be fortunate that construction proceeds at a glacial pace. Gov Jerry will be long gone and maybe, just maybe, Crazyfornia will elect someone with some business and economic sense. It could happen.
The reality of this boondoggle needs to be highlighted repeatedly by ordinary people in ordinary ways until the support drops to the 30% socialist core among state voters. Don t count on the California Republican Party or any other organization to make the case against this boondoggle. Too much money is at stake for corporations, Wall Street investors, unions, and other establishment parasites.