Brett
I completely agree with you about the ACE. I worked as a project manager, project super, GC, contractor manager's inspector & was the estimator of a good number of bases, VA's & government installations in the North East including Edwards Air Force (during 9/11), Otis on the Cape, the Naval War College, both Newport bases, Hanscon AFB, major VA's in Brooklyn & a few in Boston & NH as well as some smaller projects. I got to know the inspectors & engineers & they got to know me. As long as they were totally involved with the job they were great. Their spec's were top shelf & I never found it that hard to meet them either, when designed by them it was a bit towards overkill but you knew that they were getting the best. If I had a better idea they were always willing to listen weither it was a cost or a savings, didn't matter as long as it was gonna meet or exceed their expections. On base usually no one else had a hand in the overseeing of construction, off base was a different story, at armories even the janitor had a say in what was to be (people skills was as much a qualification as reading blueprints sometimes). I give the ACE a lot of credit but I can't imagine all the hands that were digging out the fruits of the pie that went into the mess in NO. I do believe that if the ACE were the only ones to oversee all aspects of the reconstruction that it would've been far better, cheaper, stronger & closer to being more timely.

Get a politican involoved & they'll fuck up anything.
They're the ones that want to force the contractors to do something for nothing off site & the contractors have to make up the loss for that on the job that they're contracted to do, which the politican is holding the contract for over their heads. Then there's the swaps & overcharges, the back charges & additional extras that cost's the contract. This doesn't happen when it's overseen by the ACE, at least not that I've ever known or heard about. I always found them a pleasure to deal with & was delighted to be involved with them rather than city or state projects. I worked as GC on the renovation of Boston City Hall, we had to work around the Major's whim & his Louie, the city employees that invented smells so they could shut down their departments so they could take the day off but the engineers & inspectors, clerk of he works etc, the profesionals were great, it's when the bottom feeders get involved that the project starts to sink & panic sets in.

Barry