| I have worked on large infrastructure projects and this doesn't surprise me at all. * Repeat projects bring a new set of biases. People see it as an opportunity to "get it right this time". * People are excited about the new project (more bias). * The presence of expertise and experience will make contractors want to charge more rather than less. * New contractors may bid for the project at a low price but lack that hard won experience. * Efficient manufacturing is a difficult and expensive field in its own right. It will be more complex than building the initial run. And the scale of production may never justify that. * Many contractors will bring expertise and experience from other fields. But you will also compete for their time with other projects. The guys doing the massive civils contract are sought after by the tunnelling project or the roads project. * Civil engineering is very dependant on the site and can be very expensive even if it is technically trivial. * You work in an economy with a high cost of living. Salaries grow. |