GAO studies problems at the Olmsted Locks and Dam

It's raining here in Cabell County, W.Va., today, which means my internet service is cutting in and out. Let's see if it stays on long enough to post this.

The Waterways Journal has an article this week about a Government Accountability Office report on the Olmsted Locks and Dam, mainly about how it got so far behind schedule and over budget. Basically, the GAO report says what's been said many times before, that the "in-the-wet" method of building the dam, in which parts were build on shore and floated into place and submerged, was far more expensive and time-consuming than the traditional method of building dams in the dry by using cofferdams.

I've downloaded the whole report. Sometime this week when I can read through it carefully, I'll have a followup entry. Skimming through it, I was reminded of a dialogue in the Michael Crichton novel "The Lost World", his sequel to "Jurassic Park". If all you know of "The Lost World" is the movie that came out about 20 years ago, you need to read the book. Most of the characters are different, and it tackles the topic of mass extinctions.

More later.