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6
Pursuit of Innovation
The committee observes that the United States and the world
are experiencing rapid technological advance, but that applications
to construction have been relatively limited. U.S. construction and
design have in the past played an important world leadership role
that is now threatened, in part due to society's growing willingness
to assign liability on a basis of ability to pay, and in part due to
the competition's commitment to progress. In addition to making
a greater effort in research and development and enhancing educa-
tion and training, the U.S. construction industry must rekindle its
enthusiasm for innovation if it is to maintain its place in the global
economy.
NATURE OF INNOVATION
Innovation can occur in a design (e.g., suspension bridge) or in
a material (e.g., reinforced concrete). It can occur by a major break-
through based on a novel invention that dramatically and suddenly
changes what we build (e.g., the need for airports was created by the
invention of the airplane). However, innovation is more frequently
achieved through many incremental improvements that serve to make
a technology useful (e.g., improved roadway paving materials).
Most innovations (including those in infrastructure) are the re-
sult of absorbing an invention, often after it has been developed for
85
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BUILDING FOR TOMORRO W
another purpose. In each era, certain primary inventions become the
basis for much of the innovation that occurs. At present, a number
of new primary inventions are driving change in construction:
. Photonics: those inventions that produce coherent light that
can be amplified and propagated, such as lasers, masers, and fiber
optics. Paths of light will increasingly replace the wires along which
messages flow, and lasers have found application in field surveying as
well as in factory cutting and welding.
Biotechnology: genetic engineering, neuroengineering, and
the recoding of macromolecules of living things to produce new or-
ganic substances that can have applications in buildings and infras-
tructure. Pollution control and hazardous waste disposal stand to
benefit greatly.
. Materials science: fundamental reformation and fabrication
of inorganic materials to provide performance characteristics not
found in nature, such as high-strength composites, rapid-flow mem-
brane technology, and superconductivity. This latest discovery may
have far-reaching impacts on the storage of electricity and transport
technology.
.
.
Microelectronics: circuits, switching mechanisms, data stor-
age devices, amplifiers, and sensors. Such devices can extend human
strength and dexterity through robotics; support data collection and
analysis to enhance the speed and effectiveness of human actions;
and make possible graphic input and output of data and so begin to
substitute a picture for a thousand words.
Such innovations may have profound implications for construc-
tion. They may change working relationships between designers and
constructors. Buildings themselves are becoming more "intelligent"
as they have electronic enhancements added to their information
and communications systems as well as the controls for mechanical
equipment. Robotics and other forms of automation are beginning to
provide practical applications for performing difficult or dangerous
job-site tasks, and may well alter the economics of much work done
on the job.
The impressive efforts of Japan's construction industry have
been described. European firms as well have undertaken aggressive
searches for innovation, particularly in the development of propri-
etary construction systems. These new systems are based on exten-
sive integration of design, fabrication, and erection processes, all of
which are carried out by a single firm. Several large European firms
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PURSUIT OF INNOVATION
87
have succeeded in vertically integrating their business structures to
include the management of key materials supplies, design and engi-
neering expertise, development know-how, and financing capability.
The economic integration into one firm of these functions more eas-
ily allows the construction firm to capture the economic benefits of
productivity and quality improvements through the adoption of new
technologies. Because there is better control of costs, such integrated
firms develop a competitive advantage.
Firms in the United States continue to take a passive attitude
toward construction innovation. Even the largest U.S. firms, which
may have the resources to undertake significant research programs,
continue to put their faith in the strategy of being "technology fol-
lowers." Indeed, many large U.S. construction firms have suggested
that by not being committed to any one proprietary technology they
are at a strategic advantage in being able to pick and choose among
the latest technologies around the world. The comrn~ttee questions
the wisdom of this strategy. In a global market, those firms that
have developed a proprietary technical advantage are in a position to
refuse to grant licenses to firms with which they do not wish to com-
pete. Even when the technology is available in principle, individuals
and firms are often deterred by the initial intellectual and financial
investment required to apply it in practice.
There are three ground rules that seem to be needed for any seri-
ous effort to encourage innovation in the U.S. construction industry:
. For major innovations to take hold and become common, they
need to be founded on a confluence of basic research and practical
improvements. In other words, they rely as much on basic research
(to the extent it is still useful to use that term) as they do on applied
engineering. Often the area of basic research used bears no obvious
relation to the eventual practical application.
. The search for innovation must allow for major breakthroughs
followed by incremental advances, and it can include improvements in
design as well as materials. During the overall process of invention,
various improvements reinforce one another and encourage public
demand, in such a way as to promote further innovations.
. Mechanisms are needed to capture the potentially sizable
payoffs of innovation for those who attempt it. Early American
bridge innovations (from the nineteenth century) are a good example,
because generous royalties were paid for the use of the ideas that had
been granted patents.
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BUILDING FOR TOMORROW
OPPORTUNITY IN IN:FRASTRUCTUR1:
Within the United States, as in most of the world, there is with-
out question an opportunity to increase the performance character-
istics of those systems used to transport people and goods, obtain
water, remove wastes, supply energy, and facilitate communications.
There is also reason to include those buildings used either for public
purposes (e.g., schools and hospitals) or built with public funds (e.g.,
government offices, court houses, and prisons) as a part of the public
works infrastructure.
Under this broad definition of infrastructure, the United States
in 1984 invested $102 billion, 30 percent of its design and construction
budgets (see Tables t! to 13~.
Development of advanced infrastructure is a challenge, worthy
of a cooperative international effort. It will be difficult to structure
these developments to match the performance requirements of a soci-
ety utilizing advanced science and technology, and make them more
than incremental improvements to the present modal technologies.
In the developing part of the world, where the most rapid urbaniza-
tion is happening, the challenge is to develop technology appropriate
to their requirements rather than to impose solutions produced for
industrial nations.
There are two reasons for the United States to do more about
advancing the technology of infrastructure. It would benefit within
its own borders from new and higher-performance systems, and it
could also have another opportunity for marketing its technology on a
global basis. This committee recognizes the urgency of maintaining
and extending the existing networks of public works that underlie
U.S. cities. However, the nation also needs to develop new and
higher-performing technologies to gain the potential market that
improved performance makes possible and to avoid an indefinite
future drain on the public purse from maintaining the older systems.
The existing infrastructure is based on a set of inventions that
emerged toward the end of the last century. These inventions pro-
duced a second generation of urban systems that provided perfor-
mance characteristics substantially different from those previously
used in all of human history:
. Structural steel frames for buildings. When this method of
construction was first introduced in the 1880s in Chicago, it made it
possible to erect structures that were taller than the five- or six-floor
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PURSUIT OF INNOVATION
TABLE 11 Estimates of Private Construction Volume that Might Be Included
Within the Category of Infrastructure (in $million), 1984
Type of Private Construction
(by census category)
Residential buildings
Nonresidential buildings
(organized by functions)
Industrial
Office
Other commercial
(warehouses, silos, retail stores
shopping malls, drugstores, parking
art vendee stations. barber
Total Infrastructure
Valuea Valueb
145,059
13,745
25,940
22,167
=~ ~ _ ~7
shops, dance schools)
Religious 2,132
Educational 1,411 1,411
Hospital andinstitutional 6,297 6,297
Miscellaneous 2,455 490
(movie theatres, casinos, health
clubs, radio and television stations,
including bus and airline terminals,
public utility buildings)
Subtotal
Farm nonresidential buildings
Public utilities
74,147 18,198
2,860
(organized by industries)
Telephone and telegraph7,1747,174
Railroads3,6713,671
Electric light and power19,47319,473
Gas3,2333,233
Petroleum pipelines271271
Subtotal33,82233,822
All other1,9121,912
(privately owned streets, bridges,
parking areas, dams, reservoirs,
sewer, water facilities, parks,
and playgrounds)
TOtalc
Source: Bureau of the Census data, with staff extensions, 1984.
257,801 53,932
aValue includes cost of materials, labor, equipment rental, contractor profit,
owners' overhead costs, architect and engineer services, miscellaneous charges on
owners' books, interest, and taxes during construction.
bInfrastructure is defined as including all buildings used for public purposes
(e.g., schools) whether paid for privately or publicly, and all construction of
"networks" for supporting buildings (e.g., roads). Where exact data are not
provided an estimate has been made.
CSubtotals may not add to totals because of rounding.
89
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BUILDING FOR TOMORRO W
TABLE 12 Estimates of Public Construction Volume that Might Be Included
Within the Category of Infrastructure (in $million), 1984
Type of Public Construction TotalInfrastructure
(by census category) ValueaValue b
Buildings
(bv functions)
`, ,
Housing and redevelopment 1,636
Industrial 1,828
Educational 5,5575,557
Hospital 2,03982,039
Other 6,8226,822
(administrative; police, fire, bus, and
streetcar stations; subway garages and
barns; jails; parking facilities;
airport and marine terminals; electric
power generating buildings; and so on)
Subtotal 17,88314,418
Highways and streets 16,29416,294
Military facilities 2,839
Conservation and development 4,6544,654
(water resource protection and
control, fish hatcheries, spillways,
pollution control, levees, seawalls,
canals, docks, piers, wharves,
berths, and reservoirs built other
than for potable water supply)
Sewer systems 6,2416,241
Water supply facilities 2,6212,621
Miscellaneous 4,6544,654
(recreational facilities, power
generating facilities, and other open
construction for subways, streetcars,
airport runways, parking, and so on)
Totalc
. . _
Source: Bureau of the Census data, with staff extensions, 1984.
55,186 48,882
aValue includes cost of materials, labor, equipment rental, contractor profit,
owners' overhead costs, architect and engineer services, miscellaneous charges on
owners' books, interest, and taxes during construction.
bInfrastNcture is defined as including all buildings used for public purposes
(e.g., schools) whether paid for privately or publicly, and all construction of
"networks for supporting buildings (e.g., roads). Where exact data are not
provided an estimate has been made.
CSubtotals may not add to totals because of rounding.
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PURSUIT OF INNOVATION
TABLE 13 Estimates of Private and Public Construction Volume that Might
Be Included Within the Category of Infrastructure (in $million), 1984
Type of Construction
Total Infrastructure
Valuea Value b
Public and pnvateC
Private sector buildings
Public sector buildings
Total building components
of infrastructure c
Privately financed utility systems
Publicly financed utility systems c
Total utility components of infrastructure
312,987 102,184
18,198
14,418
32,616
33,822
34,464
70,200
Source: Bureau of the Census data, with staff extensions, 1984.
aValue includes cost of materials, labor, equipment rental, contractor profit,
owners' overhead costs, architect and engineer services, miscellaneous charges on
owners' books, interest, and taxes during construction.
bInfrastructure is defined as including all buildings used for public purposes
(e.g., schools) whether paid for privately or publicly, and all construction of
"networks" for supporting buildings (e.g., roads). Where exact data are not
provided an estimate has been made.
Subtotals may not add to totals because of rounding.
91
limitation of masonry walls that had dominated architectural design
for all of prior human history.
.
.
Elevators for moving people and goods vertically in tall build-
ings, made possible by the Otis inventions for safety. Elevators re-
placed stairways that, because they required human energy to ascend,
were not practical beyond the five- or six-floor limitation of earlier
designs.
. The set of inventions that made possible indoor plumbing
devices connected to water and waste systems, which replaced the
outhouse, the slit trench, and all of the prior disease-ridden methods
of disposing of human waste.
. Central heating systems that, especially when they began
to use the fluid fossil fuels of oil and gas, changed the logistics of
supplying fuel for heat since fuel no longer had to be manually sup-
pled to separate stoves and fireplaces located throughout a building
(and ashes no longer had to be removed from each separate heating
device).
The discovery of electricity, and the subsequent invention of
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BUILDING FOR TOMORRO W
generators, amplifiers, distribution methods, electric motors, and the
light bulb, which substituted for the historical use of candles, whale
oil, animal power, and so on.
The telephone system based on the primary invention of
Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 that made voice communications
possible across great distances, replacing such ancient methods as
town criers, rr~essengers, and mail.
. The automobile, or more appropriately the internal combus-
tion engine, which substituted a device for the conversion of a fossil
fuel to useful energy for the animal power used in all of human
history.
The subway, or the underground railway, as first introduced
in London, which provided for mass transportation within a crowded
urban area, without pollution of the air or interference in the ar-
rangement of buildings.
There are many indications of limitations of the performance
capability of this second generation of infrastructure technologies
relative to today's demands. Their ability to support the activities
of modern industry is sorely taxed. While there is the possibility that
the recently completed work of the National Council on Public Works
Improvement will stimulate Congress to provide major new support
for infrastructure innovation, the committee feels that only through
elective public-private partnership can innovation be achieved in
practice.
.
Beyond the obvious plea to be made for increased government
funding in the field, the programs of other countries illustrate the
value to be gained through true partnership of private and public
interests in the U.S. construction industry. This partnership should
embrace research and innovation for both domestic productivity and
international competitive strength.
For example, projects built with government funds can assume
the greater commercial risk involved in adopting innovation, as was
demonstrated by the introduction of precast concrete segmental tun-
nel liners to U.S. transit construction. This technology had been
widely used around the world (since 1936 in England), but not in the
United States because individual transit companies were reluctant
to take the risk of being first. The Urban Mass Transportation Ad-
ministration sponsored a research and development project to install
concrete segments in one stretch of the Baltimore subway, and sud-
denly this became the standard technology for U.S. transit systems.
National Science Foundation projects done in cooperation with the
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PURSUIT OF INNOVATION
93
construction programs of other federal agencies could play a similar
role for introducing innovations into design and construction.
Precedent also exists for private-public cooperation in competi-
tion for international projects. While the Three Gorges Project in
the People's Republic of China was not resolved as the team might
have hoped (see Case Study 6), the experience is a valuable lesson
demonstrating U.S. ability to emulate the institutional arrangements
of British, French, Dutch, or Scandinavian firms and their govern-
ments.
However, even this precedent is not enough. The U.S. construc-
tion industries' 1.2 trillion firms need a stronger and more effective
voice in national policy. Existing industry organizations play an
important role in representing the particular interests of their mem-
bership, but there is no forum for resolving inevitable conflicts and
initiating cooperative activity.
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR INNOVATION
As the final chapter of this report will discuss, new or altered
institutions are needed to make this partnership of private and public
interests effective in the United States. The committee feels strongly,
however that the oDDortunities for innovation in construction and
. . . , , ~
. ~ . . . ~ ~ ~ · 1 · _ 1 ~ _ _ ~1_ _r _ _~ ~ _ ~ _ ~ ~ ~
the potential world economic ana SOClal DenenL~ Of capturllls ~ll=~=
opportunities warrant partnership on a global scale, a partnership to
work in the United States as well as abroad.
U.S. construction and design firms have found it desirable to
rely on comparative advantage and pursue a strategy of cooperation
rather than competition, as the examples and case studies gathered
by the committee have illustrated. The strategy is a good one for
innovation as well. To make the strategy work, however, the U.S.
construction industry must strive to maintain its traditional lead-
ership in technology, for two key reasons: (1) loss of technological
leadership may mean loss of comparative advantage and competitive
position and (2) without the strength for good competitive position,
meaningful cooperation becomes nearly impossible.
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BUILDING FOR TOMORRO W
CASK STUDY6:
COOPERATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN U S PUBLIC AND
PRIVATE SECTORS: PROPOSAL FOR THE THREE GORGES
PROJECT IN CHINA
For six weeks in 1985 a group of leaders in engineering design and
construction sequestered itself in a hastily assembled office in Wash-
ington, D C The group* goal was to accomplish a task many might
think impossible: create a proposal to design and construct one of the
world* largest civil engineering projects the Three Gorges Project
in the People* Rep public of China The impetus for this chasten gin g
undertaking was an invitation from high-level Chinese officials for
the United States to take a lead role in project development The
enormousness of the Three Gorges Project and the brute] proposal
deadline were complicated by the fact that both the proposal and
the work would be done through a combination of U S private and
public sector groups
The "Team America" effort, as it was dubbed, resulted in much
more than a document The undertaking showed that read or per-
ceived differences and barriers between U S government agencies and
private firms can be surmounted to meet shared goals In the case
of the Three Gorges Project, where US involvement would have
far-reaching erects for the nation and others, the accomplishment
was admirable and one that can serve as a prototype for future
cooperative efforts
Another less favorable, but equally important, lesson came out of
this exercise While the Chinese government accepted the proposal,
the work was not pursued due to Jack of fin ancia] support from U S
government and/or private industry sources As a result, proposed
feasibility studies are now being done by a nation in which the private
and public sectors cooperate to best advantage Canada
The Three Gorges Project was conceived early in the 1900s by
Dr Sun Yat-Sen in his "Plan for Industrialization of China " "It
is the Jong-cherished wish for the Chinese to construct the
Three Gorges Project Completion of the project wiR be of great
significance to the industrialization of the country," wrote Sun, who
is stir] hailed as a visionary by his countrymen
Nearly a century after Sun's predictions, the powerful Yangtze
River frequently ravages the valley below with floods that endanger
hundreds of thousands of people and major agricultural and indus-
trial bases Forty percent of China's food supply is grown in this
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PURSUIT OF INNOVATION
95
valley. Industry-the heart of the country* revitalization-is crip-
pied as 40 to 60 percent of capacity is idle at any given time due to
power shortages. Harnessing the world* third longest river with the
Three Gorges Dam wou]~1 provide approximately 1,300 megawatts of
hydroeJectric-generating capacity and lead to formation of a nation-
wide, Jarge-scaJe electric power pool.
Improving navigation on the river is of significant economic im-
portance to China, and the project would aid passage of ships the
size of ocean-going vessels through narrow channels in gorge areas.
Three Gorges would be a concrete gravity dam with a crest height
of 510 to 575 It en c] a Jength of 7,200 ft. The dam would include
two, four-step shiplocks, and the narrow reservoir would back up 100
miles or more.
Following Sun's early vision for the project, plans proceeded
slowly over the years due to a variety of changing conditions in China.
Pioneering work was done in the 1940s by the Bureau of Reclama-
tion * chief design engineer, Dr. John [. Savage. In the decades of the
1950s and 1960s, the Chinese made a detailed comparison of alter-
native sites, and in 1979 proposer] the currently favored Sandouping
site. In 1984, the State Council approved the project* feasibility re-
port and in March 1985, the Chinese compiete`1 a preliminary design
report.
In May 1985, former Secretary of the Interior William Clark
visite<] China on a diplomatic mission that le<:] high-]eve] Chinese
dignitaries to invite the United States to propose a lead role in project
development. Clark made a comrn~tment for the United States to
aid China by defining concrete steps that could be taken to address
technical and financial] issues.
Upon his return to the United States in June 1985, Clark briefed
approximately 50 representatives from a wide array of public en cl
private sector engineering groups regarding the Chinese invitation.
He challenged the representatives to respond as they saw fit and set
a target date of July 15 for reply.
The group rose to the challenge. Initial organizing efforts were
done by a core group composed of representatives of the U.S. Depart-
ment of the Interior, American Consuiting Engineers Council, Na-
tiona] Council for U.S./China Tracle, and private engineering firms.
A]] interested] parties were invited to donate resources to the ef-
fort, with no promise of return on their investment; The official
title for the group that evolved was "The U.S. Three Gorges Work-
ing Group" but William Clark also chose to christen the effort as
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BUILDING FOR TOMORROW
"Team America," reflecting the genuine patriotic spirit motivating
the group on behalf of the nation 's best interests.
Private and public groups contributing to the proposal furnished
an estimated $1.5 million to $3 million in human, financial, and in-
kind resources to this unique effort, which one participant described
as the highlight of his career.
Participating firms and agencies called in their top people, many
from overseas assignments, to work on a job with a sense of mission
for the nation, a job where top managers rolled up their sleeves,
hammered out figures, and worked past old rivalries and differences.
The team was composed of high-level executives such as chief
executive officers, vice-presidents, and agency heads from public en c!
private groups often known as competitors rather than cooperators.
Side by side they shared their expertise in engineering design, con-
struction, management, and financial and economic fields. Most of
the participants had 30 years' experience in large-scale clam en c!
hydroelectric power projects.
Representatives of these private sector firms made up the team:
My F. Atkinson Company
Bechtel Civil and Minerals Engineering, Inc.
Coopers and L`ybrand
Merrill Lynch Capital Markets
The Morgan Bank
Morrison Knudsen Corporation
Stone andWebster Engineering Corporation
The federal government's contribution came from services pro-
vided by the U.S. Department ofthe Interior's Bureau of Reclamation
and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Each party made an offering. With 85 years' experience in de-
sign and construction of major water resources projects, the Bureau
of Reclamation furnished approximately 20 experts in various fields
to advance the proposal. Access to vital, existing data was pos-
sible through working agreements between the bureau and China
and through bureau engineers who were then working at the Three
Gorges site. The Corps of Engineers, one of the few existing bases
of knowledge in the United States for lock design, provided invalu-
able expertise. The private firms contributed experience in preparing
proposals and overall know-how on getting a job done on time and
within budget.
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97
An office was set up in Washington, D.C., as the base of opera-
tions. The leader of the private sector parties moved to the city for
the six-week assignment, while most other participants commuted
from their offices around the country. Work days often became work
nights as the group propelled itself from its first meeting June 10 to
the micI-Ju~y target date.
The tight deadline proved to be a great motivator, prompting the
team to adopt more flexible, creative working methods than typically
used in industry and government. Uncommon events often demand
uncommon approaches, and one participant commented that, to his
knowledge, a joint pubic-private effort of this magnitude had never
before been attempted.
The executives were called on to use aR the knowledge and abiii-
ties, both technical and managerial, that have made them successful
in their organizations. - ~ ~^ ~ ~
l he co-leaders, one trom private industry
and one from a federal agency, found they could not manage the
group members as they would their own employees. Without the
power conveyed by their respective organizations, they had to ex-
ercise persona] slims to "motivate the group to accept, support, and
carry out shared objectives. The individuals practiced their interper-
sona] communication skills by offering constructive critiques as work
progressed. Management books on the bestseller list talk about cases
such as this that bring out the best in managers to build teams, inte-
grate diverse talents, and manage disputes in pursuit of a firs t-ciass
product.
Man ageria] skills were also required to address the unique or-
ganizationa] structure within the People* Republic of China re-
lating to design, construction, and management of existing and
planned water resource projects. The Chinese government hi en-
countered substantial difflcuities in building the Gezbouba Project on
the Yangtze River downstream from the proposed site of the Three
Gorges Project, mainly due to their complex system of interrelated
ministries. The U.S. team worked on devising a more effective, sim-
p~ified mechanism to avoid a recurrence of these problems on Three
Gorges.
The outcome of this intensive effort was a comprehensive pro-
posa] including an implementation plan en c] economic study leading
to a financia]pJan all completed on schedule and with a great dead of
pride. The proposed recommended using China's own technical and
human resources to the extent possible to help the nation develop
a strong base of knowledge. The effort proposed would foster an
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BUILDING FOR TOMORRO W
unprecedented level of cooperation and technology transfer between
U.S. private anc]pub~ic sectors and the Peopie's Republic.
The proposal, with a summary volume in both Chinese and
English, was presented to China's Vice Premier Li Peng on July
17 at a setting appropriate for the occasion, the bureau's massive
Hoover Dam. Later, in China, the proposal was presented to Madame
Minister Qian, head of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric
Power.
While the Chinese were quick to embrace the proposal in princi-
p~e, the question remained as to who would fund a feasibility study on
the project. The government-to-government effort initiated through
U.S.-Chinese working agreements and furthered by William C]ark's
visit had opened the door to future alliances, but neither the U.S.
government nor U.S. private industry was able to surmount the stum-
bling block posed by the estimated cost of $6 million to $8 million
for the feasibility study. The tote] cost of constructing the project is
anticipate<] to be approximately $8 billion.
In October 1985, the Can aclian government signed an agreement
with the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power for joint
participation in a feasibility study. The agreement includes a grant
from Canada to China to fund the work of Canadian engineers. The
cost of the study is estimated at $7.5 million to $8.3 million, and the
anticipated completion clate was December 1987.
A number of high-]eve] Chinese officials have publicly stated
that the Three Gorges Project will be built, but decline to establish
specific time frames. Outside analysts predict that work will proceed
when major issues are resolved, such as project financing, appropriate
height of the dam, and environmental concerns.
When asked if they would do it again, executives invo~vecl with
Team America answer with a resounding "yes." The participants
view the experience as a positive one and a challenge from technical,
m anageria], anal political standpoints. The hard hours may have
temporarily exacted a toll, but the Jon g-term payoff is an enduring
sense of satisfaction on a persona] and a profession e] level.
One spin-off of the tearn's work was exposing the stereotypes
surrounding government workers in relation to their private sector
counterparts. In the trenches, the team members found that ta]-
ent, determination, and professionalism exist in many places. The
involvement of experience<] senior professionals from the public and
private sectors was the key ingredient in producing a quality product
on time.
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99
The invitation from the People's Republic of China to prepare
this proposal is an indicator of their respect for the technical en c]
professional expertise found in U.S. private industry and government.
Through other joint projects, the country* best human resources can
be melded for a variety of purposes, including technology transfer to
help other nations achieve their goals, and enhancing the position of
the Uniter] States in international competition.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
water resources
