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The Legendary “Big Plumage” Clause That Made a Bridge Famous
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Time for a ridiculous story from the world of infrastructure contracts. You know, those multi-billion-dollar deals where one tiny typo can turn into a legendary office joke. Well… here you are one. ​ Picture this. Somewhere in Europe. A massive bridge project. The contract is huge, hundreds of pages of legal and technical jargon. In the middle of all that, there was supposed to be a clause that said the contractor had to provide a "large-tonnage crane." ​ Don’t ask why. Maybe some stupid Spanish associated to the word “pluma”, which means feather… but also crane… No more details. The fact is that for whatever reason, someone fumbled the wording. Instead of a "large-tonnage crane," the contract called for a "large-plumage chicken." Yes, a giant chicken. ​ Nobody noticed until it was too late. Hundreds of thousands in lawyers and you get “plummed”… ​ Well… When the site manager went looking for the crane, the legal team had to explain that, according to the contract, they apparently needed to deliver a big, fluffy bird to the site. ​ It turned into a running gag. People joked about bringing a ceremonial chicken to the ribbon-cutting. ​ Eventually, lawyers won. Got paid again. And they fixed the wording. ​ But the tale of the "big plumage clause" lives on as a reminder that even in the most serious projects, a little absurdity can slip in. ​ Stay sharp and check your clauses or you might end up looking for a crane and getting a chicken! ​ For more interesting stories and how they got resolved… click below. ​My Mentorship​ ​ PD 1: If you liked this email, don't keep it in secret and forward it to a friend. They will thank you enormously one day. PD 2: If somebody has sent you this email and you want to receive emails like this yourself, visit vicentevalencia.com PD 3: If you want unsubscribe, click the link below. ​ ​ |
Vicente Valencia
I talk about Personal Growth, Management, Infrastructure and More | 👇JOIN +2k readers 👇
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