The Monumental C**k Up Thread.

[raleighnut]

Titanic.

 

[Emanresu]

3. Lancia Cars in Britain

The Lancia I had for a very short time had holes in the floor pan as air conditioning.

 

[Dirk]

Dieppe.

 

[Dogtrousers]

2. Berlin Brandenburg airport

Stuttgart has a huge railway station project "Stuttgart 21" (I think the 21 refers to the 21st century, not to 2021) that keeps getting delayed. I think the latest date is Dec next year. I don't think it's quite on a par with Brandenburg airport but it's up there.

I don't know much about it except for the fact that it explained why Stuttgart station was such a dump when I was there last time, so I did a bit of reading.

To be fair it looks like it will be pretty good if it does eventually get finished.

 

[Sterlo]

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/la...k-a-year-due-to-ground-conditions-17-12-2024/

View attachment 758891

I was going to mention this but was beaten to it. I have to go through this every day, it's already been going on for 5 years, now extended for another 12-18 months. Who would have thought that digging a tunnel within 1/4 of a mile of a major estuary on ground that is notorious for been very heavy, would cause them problems. They tried a similar idea further up the River Hull about 10 years ago and every morning when they went to start work, had to spend a few hours clearing the water that had accumulated overnight. They soon scrapped the idea and built a bridge instead.

 

[Sharky]

Wrong type of concrete, such as..

The Orchard Theatre in Dartford shut in September 2023 after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was found in its roof.

Seems to have affected schools and buildings all over the UK.

 

[PeteXXX]

This 2 year old school on Buckden Fields, Hamtun, is due to be demolished due to dodgy concrete.

Edit: it's about 4 years old, not 2..

 

[PeteXXX]

In 1845 on the Hastings railway that was being built, a dodgy contractor (unbelievable, I know!) lined a tunnel with only 4 layers of brick instead of the required 6. A while later, after it was discovered due to a similar tunnel having a partial collapse, it had a further 2 layers of brick being added thus making it too narrow for the trains to pass through..
Plan 'B' was instigated and narrower rolling stock was made.
This cock-up continued until 1986...

~Hastings line cock-up ~

 

[Gunk]

View attachment 758924
This 2 year old school on Buckden Fields, Hamtun, is due to be demolished due to dodgy concrete.

This sort of stuff makes my blood boil, someone surely should be accountable for this, but clearly not three schools are being knocked down because of these crooks.

The schools shared the same building contractor, Caledonian Modular, which fell into administration in March 2022.

I remember about 10 years ago when I worked in Witney, the old Magistrates court became part of Witney and Abingdon college, they then spent an absolute fortune replacing the entrance with grey aluminium windows and doors and creating a posh foyer, 18 months later the whole building was demolished.

 

[BrumJim]

Sweden has the same track gauge as the UK

Possibly it was Finland?

Although they use a different rail inclination. Don't ask me how I know. Unless you are suffering insomnia.

 

[PeteXXX]

This sort of stuff makes my blood boil, someone surely should be accountable for this.

I remember about 10 years ago when I worked in Witney, the old Magistrates court became part of Witney and Abingdon college, they then spent an absolute fortune replacing the entrance with grey aluminium windows and doors and creating a posh foyer, 18 months later the whole building was demolished.

Apologies, it's slightly older than 2 years, but not much! Probably 4 years.. The contractor went into administration in 2022
~BBC linkie ~

 

[BrumJim]

There are clues but we can't definitively declare it a cock up until it is operational or cancelled.

Crossrail was in a much worse state during build. 5 years late?

 

[Gunk]

Apologies, it's slightly older than 2 years, but not much! Probably 4 years.. The contractor went into administration in 2022
~BBC linkie ~

I’ve just updated my post after reading the BBC article

 

[Drago]

The Lancia I had for a very short time had holes in the floor pan as air conditioning.

My Dad had two Betas.

Dynamically a great car, but the first was written off less than a year old when one of the wheels fell apart due to corrosion.

The replaced it, and this was fine. Theyd got a grip on the corrosion problem by then but they damage was done and a few months later Lancia offered to buy all Beta's back that had been sold before a certain date. Dad qualified as the original car he paid for had been sold before the cut off date, and while the new car was night and day compared to the original he'd lost all confidence so he accepted the offer.

He then bought a Citroen CX which rusted in a similar manner but somehow no one cared.

Indeed, my Dad's first job from school was working for an Austin dealer, tarting up and hiding the rust on the new cars prior to being sold...

So, European cars of yesteryear - monumental cock up!

 

[Gunk]

Apologies, it's slightly older than 2 years, but not much! Probably 4 years.. The contractor went into administration in 2022
~BBC linkie ~

But Nicholas Morrison the sole director who liquidated the company with 22m in debt is still an active director of two other companies. It’s not right