Calatrava's Peace Bridge delayed

I interrupt my posts from Venice for a short diversion. Many thanks to Tallbridgeguy for spotting that Calatrava's Peace Bridge in Calgary, originally predicted to open this month, has been delayed until January 2011.

Calatrava's bridges are no strangers to cost and programme overruns, so this should surprise no-one, including the client project manager, who said "It doesn’t come as a surprise to us. This is a piece of art, in a huge scale that is hugely demanding". But surely if the duration of the construction was no surprise, the later end date would have been the one originally predicted?

The project manager is also quoted as saying: "The contractor (now) fully realizes the complexity of assembling that structure will put a huge demand on their time and effort". They only realise that now? With the steelwork sections fabricated and just having arrived in Canada after their ocean voyage from Spain?

I am being unfair, as innovation does often bring increased uncertainty, to an extent that people accustomed to the conventional often fail to allow for.