Planning fallacy
The Sydney Opera House was expected to be completed in 1963. A scaled-down version opened in 1973, a decade later. The original cost was estimated at $7 million, but its delayed completion led to a cost of $102 million.
Melford International Terminal
Following the 2005 announcement of the Melford International Terminal, a group of marine infrastructure owners in Sydney, Nova Scotia have developed a competing proposal to dredge Sydney Harbour at an estimated cost of $40 million to accommodate deep draft container ships and build a 2–3 berth container terminal at the Sydport Industrial Park, the former navy base in Point Edward at a cost of $150 million. This proposal would not require construction of a rail line as the location is already served by the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway. Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Sydney in December 2010 where he announced the Government of Canada would contribute $20 million to the Sydney project, on top of a $15 million contribution from the Government of Nova Scotia and $2 million from the municipality and Nova Scotia Power. A contract was signed in April 2011 with Netherlands engineering firm Boskalis for the dredging work in Sydney Harbour to take place in fall 2011.