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Seven Engineers Suspended After $2.3M Bridge Includes 90-Degree Turn

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171 points _sbl_ | 5 comments | 10 Jul 25 16:10 UTC | HN request time: 1.477s | source
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oc1 ◴[10 Jul 25 16:21 UTC] No.44522688[source]▶
<< According to official records, the design for the bridge shifted multiple times over the past seven years, largely due to conflicts between the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Railways. The two agencies couldn’t agree on how to share land, and in trying to work around both railway property and the new Metro line, they ended up producing a final layout with an abrupt 90-degree angle.

I love that mindset. Europeans would have simply refused and 100 years later it would have probably been build after all legal has been cleared. Indians instead never say no. That's how you build software, so why not bridges.

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sheiyei ◴[10 Jul 25 16:29 UTC] No.44522771[source]▶
They worked with the land they were allowed to use, and it ended up like this. Not even a money issue, just bureaus refusing to cooperate.
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conductr ◴[10 Jul 25 17:25 UTC] No.44523304[source]▶
I think that's the parent's point, someone should have just said No. If you have to sacrifice so much due to whatever constraints you face, the resulting solution usually is not going to solve the original problem very well.

At the very least, I would have let it be known that I did not think the resulting bridge was a good design for traffic and has only been designed to appease the process. "I do not recommend constructing this design" would have been my CYA.

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libraryatnight ◴[10 Jul 25 17:28 UTC] No.44523347[source]▶
Someone should just say no to dark patterns, someone should just say no to layoffs that aren't actually necessary but bump share price, why aren't we all saying no more? Why does it have to be this obvious for this forum to conclude "Engineers should say no."
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1. lovich ◴[10 Jul 25 17:39 UTC] No.44523483[source]▶
You get fired for saying no. Unless the government backs up qualified people saying no, by protecting them from the companies wrath, then you won’t get anyone saying no.

Caveat that this is targeted towards US software environment, I’m under the belief that engineers designing roads and buildings are actually accredited and protected in this way in some countries

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2. reaperducer ◴[10 Jul 25 17:45 UTC] No.44523552[source]▶
You get fired for saying no

The people in the article said yes and also got fired.

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3. cruffle_duffle ◴[10 Jul 25 18:07 UTC] No.44523820[source]▶
Of course they did! That is exactly what managements plan was! You think the corrupt politicians that greenlit this thing are going to take the fall?

You think the people at the top weren’t aware this thing was unworkable?

4. triceratops ◴[10 Jul 25 18:30 UTC] No.44524045[source]▶
But it took longer to get fired after saying yes, and they were paid the whole time.
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5. fuzzfactor ◴[10 Jul 25 21:10 UTC] No.44525654{3}[source]▶
>it took longer to get fired after saying yes, and they were paid the whole time.

It's even worse than merely being fired from the project though, they were suspended.

Nobody saw it coming, but it turned out to be a "suspension bridge" after all ;)