Someone needs to check to see if the original estimate was pegged to Swiss currency.

Well, what do you expect, Jack? That's when the right kind of contractors fly.

What's wrong with that? Contractors know how to pour concrete in the rain.

Here's what happens when these kind of contractors aren't watched very closely.

These kind of contractors? That is pretty sick to compare closing the Burnside to a tragic death in Boston.

Rain doesn't interfere with pouring concrete.

You can even pour concrete under the water.

I can't believe that you can pour concrete in an inch-a-day downpour and high winds, and the end result will be as good as if you had done it in the four to five months in which Oregon enjoys fine weather. But hey, I admit, I was a classics major...

as a reader of this progressive blog from the east coast, i find it is futile to read the smart one-line comments that do nothing except to feel good.

i do think this is important meeting place for like-minded portlanders to change the local politics, i.e., to make it better.

thus, in this case, we may have to ask why things are the same they are...

rain or shine, workers go out to do the work, if it rains, they stand around...and they may your fathers, brothers, sons....

it is just a fact of life to live under union rule.

now, we may problems with the contractors and its politicians croonies...

this is something we can do and change it

A few tidbits.
Concrete requires water to harden; rain is usually not a big deal, so long as concrete touches other concrete.
Not only can you pour concrete in the rain, you can pour it underwater if you want.
Concrete poured in the rain has the same characteristics, when hardened, as concrete poured when it's nice out.
If lots of rain (or underwater) is in the forecast, and accelerant can be added to the concrete to help it cure faster and avoid the effects of rain.

A non-Classics major,
Jud

Contractor: That is pretty sick to compare closing the Burnside to a tragic death in Boston.

Closing the Burnside? Read through the thread: The issue isn't the closing of the bridge, it's the weather conditions present at the time they chose to do this work. My point is that contractors need oversight, which it appears may be lacking here. And yes, the Boston death was tragic - wrong place, wrong tome - but the collapse of the panels was predictable, a direct result of shortcuts made by contractors, and avoidable with better oversight.