Okay, the notes on this are giving me hives and I am seriously concerned about the absolute lack of critical thinking present, so some things about this from a union electrical worker who works a city contract:
1) Are those stairs up to code?
Just by looking at them: no. Open risers are a tripping hazard, I don’t see any tread grips so they’ll become a death trap in wet conditions, and those treads don’t look thick enough, supported enough, or even level. But hey, maybe it’s just a bad photo. But how far do the railing support posts go underground? Are they below the frost line? Were they properly supported in concrete? Was the concrete prepared right and given enough time to cure properly? Is the wood properly treated for weather resistance? Did he take into account the ground shifting on such a steep grade?
Even IF he did all that and the stairs were 100% up to code, the city has no way to verify that. So no, the city can’t just leave them there.
2) Who cares if the steps are up to code?
I saw a concerning amount of this in the notes. I thought we were all on the same page re: Cities have a moral obligation to make sure their structures aren’t deathtraps waiting to happen, and that’s what codes are for. I promise you, you WANT buildings and structures to follow codes and regulations. But in any case, they definitely have a legal obligation for it, so if they leave those stairs up on public land and someone trips, the city could be on the hook for millions in damages. So no, the city can’t just leave them there.
3) There’s no way stairs cost that much, it’s just the city stuffing its pockets:
$65,000 definitely seems on the steep side to me, and I’d want to see a breakdown of expenditure. But I also don’t know the scope of the project. For a set of stairs like the ones above? Yeah, that’s a lot. To excavate the entire grade and put in a concrete structure that includes stairs, an ADA compliant ramp, and good quality weather resistant material? That sounds more reasonable.
But the city also likely needs to have the following: a ground survey of the build site, architects to draw the plans, civil engineers to OK the plans, and the contractors - typically union, and therefore more expensive - to excavate and then build the structure. All of those steps are going to take a LOT of people and a LOT of time and therefore, a LOT of money.
4) Labor doesn’t cost that much, someone is just giving the job to his contractor buddy who’s inflating the price:
Labor does cost that much. Stop telling people to unionize and demand the value of their labor and then getting mad when people do it.
Anyway, in my city at least, contracts are done by blind bid and the lowest bid wins. Under most circumstances, my city legally cannot take a higher bidder, explicitly to prevent the above circumstance.
“Local man puts up steps” is NOT a safe solution to this problem, the city legally and morally cannot let an unsafe structure stand, even simple construction is complicated and expensive as hell, and acting like the city could have done this for $500 is ridiculously out of touch.
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
vaporwave
ellievsbear
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
