I wonder whyyyyyyy Washington State can’t get such a good deal on construction projects as the People’s Republic of China?? It is simply baffling.

At least to Michael Ennis at the Washington Policy Center:


 Can someone explain why China can build a 6-lane, 22 mile bridge for $1.7 billion, but Washington leaders can’t build a 6-lane 520 span between 405 and I-5 for less than $4 billion?

I’m just going to assume that a Chinese concrete guy doesn’t make nearly as much, or enjoy the same labor protections, as a union concrete guy from Burien.

From “One Year of My Blood” Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in Beijing:

Once hired, the lives of migrant construction workers, like those of most migrant workers in Beijing, become closely tied to their employer. Employers generally house construction workers in dormitory-style dwellings on the construction site or nearby and provide meals for the workers at food canteens in exchange for a daily wage deduction of seven to 10 Yuan (US$0.93 to US$1.33). The majority of the workers we interviewed complained that the quantity and quality of the food provided by their employers was inadequate to sustain them for their daily long hours of hard physical labor.

And a press release on the report:

“[We] workers ended up with less than 20 Yuan (US$2.67) per day, and on top of that we’d be deducted eight Yuan (US$1.07) per day for living costs; how are workers supposed to survive [on such low wages]?”

That’s the ticket to our state’s transportation problem!