Wed 1 November

So outgoing Olympic Delivery Authority chairman Jack Lemley has his say this week, choosing local paper, the spendidly titled Idaho Statesman, to vent his spleen about why he left his post so suddenly. I'm left slightly unconvinced by his complaints, which seem to fall into three categories:

1) He's worried that the project will go over budget, so doesn't want his reputation damaged by being attached to such problems. That didn't seem to stop him working on the Channel Tunnel, did it?

2) He's worried about converting the athletics stadium into a football ground. "A football field is not compatible with an athletic stadium," he says. Didn't they do that quite successfully in Manchester recently (Commonwealth stadium converted to Manchester City football ground)?

3) Getting the 700 acres of land in east London was proving difficult. "There was a huge amount of local politics," Jack says. Talk about stating the bleeding obvious.


Bechtel and Iraq

A jaw-dropping interview with key Bechtel personnel involved in their work in Iraq in US trade magazine Engineering News Record. Bechtel has just pulled out of the country. Whatever one feels about the firm itself and the foray into Iraq I'm amazed that they stayed there so long. The chilling statistic that stood out - 24 people died during the firm's construction of a children's hospital. As boss Clifford Mumm put it, how much blood is a hospital worth? No wonder UK contracting counterparts are staying clear of the region.

Source

QS News