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CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 31, 2009

A Great Car Device for $1.99
Filed under: Productivity — nedpelger

A friend recently sent me a link to purchase a devise that plugs into a car lighter and charges all sorts of electronic devices through a USB cable. Since many of our electronic devices (smart phones, MP3 players, cameras, GPS, etc) can have their batteries recharged through the USB data connector, this device could be used in place of lots of device specific chargers. It seems like an innovative device that I want to have in any car I’ll be driving.

When I saw the device sells for $1.99, with free shipping and comes from Hong Kong, I was skeptical. My buddy ordered a couple, though, and got them in a few weeks. He tells me the devices work well, so I’ve ordered a few for us.

By the way, how do they sell a device for under $2 and ship it free from Hong Kong? Perhaps I’ll find an unpleasant answer to that question, but what the heck…life is for the living.

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 30, 2009

Billboard Houses
Filed under: Cool Projects — Tags: — nedpelger

Front Architects from Poland came up with a creative concept, converting billboards to houses. As advertising moves online, there looks to be a glut of billboard space. A thin house in a interesting spot might be cool. Some of their concepts that I found at Dornob are below:

billboard_house1

billboard_house2

billboard_house3

Creativity inspires me, and I hope you too. Whatever problem you’re working on today, try to throw some more creativity into the resolution.

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 29, 2009

Caught in the Vegas Bust
Filed under: Industry outlook — Tags: — nedpelger

Las Vegas, like many of its visitors, goes from boom to bust fairly often. It’s a gambling town and people (developers are reputed to be people) have a tendency to push all their winnings back on the table for the next roll.

This Wall Street Journal article describes how the boom-to-bust affects workers and businesses. In a nutshell, Las Vegas bet big on both tourism and business conventions. The current economic malaise botched both bets.

The $3.1 billion Fountainebleau project, for example, went into bankruptcy last month. ENR states that the project sits vacant at 70% completion with lawsuits piling up. The Bank of America estimates it would take $1.5 billion to complete the project and the finished value would be only $1.8 billion. So the 3,300 construction workers who were on that site in the Spring aren’t likely to be coming back. The 3,400,000 sf casino, hotel and retail complex seems destined to sit empty for a long time.

Failures like the Fountainebleau go beyond my cognitive abilities. I just can’t understand the scale. Neither do I have any sense of how a project like that eventually gets untangled. I can’t conceive of the final project resolution.

The $8 billion Las Vegas City Center project, on the other hand, seems to be likely to be completed this year. Projected to employ 12,000 people, it will help the local economy. The additional 500 hotel rooms inserted into the market will probably further drive down the daily rates.

The graphic below from the WSJ article show the many projects that are stumbling.

Las_Vegas_2009_project_status

So if you’re working in a market that’s taken a hit, but not fallen off the cliff (like Las Vegas), you should probably take a moment to look on the sunny side. Always on the sunny side.

“Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life.
It will help us every day, it will brighten all the way,
If we keep on the sunny side of life.”

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 28, 2009

Make Better Spending Decisions with the Stranger Test
Filed under: General Technical Skills — Tags: — nedpelger

In these challenging economic times, you may be feeling more stress about the ends not quite meeting. The Beautiful Wife has a simple concept regarding finances, “Cash in…good, cash out…bad.” While this concept fits her nature, TBW doesn’t always behave that way and I certainly don’t. Many times, we have more control over the “Cash out” side of the equation.

I came across a simple concept that helps control impulse buying.  The “Stranger Test” moves us past what we think we can or cannot afford to another way to view the purchase decision. If you are considering buying a HDTV for $800, think about a stranger walking up and offering you $800 to not buy the HDTV. Would you rather have the $800 of found money or the HDTV?

You may think, “Wow, if someone gave me $800 I’d pay down my credit card.” Then you have your answer. On the other hand, you may conclude you’d rather have that cool new TV. The value of the concept lies in getting out of the purchase only mode for a few moments and seeing the issue from another point of view.

In significant interactions, most of us benefit from a bit of reflection. It’s valuable to look at the issue from another point of view. Of course, those of you who seem to do nothing but consider options and never make a decision don’t need to use the Stranger Test. You need to stop living in fear and start living with some gusto.

For those of us who have no problem grabbing the gusto, though, the Stranger Test may be a helpful tool.

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 22, 2009

Contractors Arrested for Lacking Common Sense
Filed under: Quality Control — Tags: — nedpelger

I posted about some building structures falling down in China a few weeks ago and just got an interesting update (thanks Gravey). You may recall the photo, that has made it’s way around the internet, and dramatically shows the failure.

China_apt_collapse

I castigated China in my post for likely not being forthcoming with an investigation and report, but it appears the failure is being studied and reports are being circulated.

“The investigation team’s report said that workers dug an underground garage on
one side of the building while on the other side earth was heaped up to 10 meters
high, which was apparently an error in construction, according to a report on
eastday.com, Shanghai’s official news website. “Any construction company with
common sense would not make such a mistake,” said an expert from the
investigation team.”

The construction company officials have been accused of incompetence and lacking common sense and put “under appropriate controls.”

The graphics below clearly show the sequence of events. It’s a good object lesson to remember to avoid rashness and step back and consider all the outcomes when making day to day decisions.

apt_China#1

apt_China#2

apt_China#3

apt_China#4

apt_China#5

apt_China#6

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 21, 2009

Heat Exaustion for Dummies
Filed under: safety — nedpelger

We just took a long weekend at the beach and I rode bike from Ocean City NJ to Cape May with my 14 year old nephew. It’s about a 40 mile ride and he doesn’t ride bike much. He’s on the junior high track team, though, and I figured he’d be fine.

As we rode, he seemed fine, never complaining and not falling behind. We kept a reasonable pace and stopped a couple times to buy bottles of  Gatorade. So imagine my surprise when we get back to the house and he starts acting disoriented and spikes a fever. When his temperature hit 102.5, we decided to take a trip to the Emergency Room. Since our youngest daughter had just gashed her foot on the a screen door

Tessa_stitches

and had the bone showing on the top of her foot, we decided to try to negotiate a two-for-one offer.

Tessa’s foot got stitched, as shown below.

Tessa_gash

Tessa_stitches_closeup

Which truly is an amazing process, by the way. I’m so glad some people decide they love healing and fixing people as much as I love building things. Also, cell phone cameras are fun and useful for hospital visits.

Anyway, my nephew, well grand-nephew, actually, had to stay a few hours and get some IV fluids till he started feeling better.

With summer upon us, what should we all know about Heat Exhaustion vs Heat Stroke?

Both come from strenuous activity in hot, usually humid conditions where substantial sweating occurs. Heat Exhaustion has the temperature rising up to 104 F, if it’s over that, it’s Heat Stroke (which can be fatal).

It’s time to take a trip to the Emergency Room with any of the following conditions below:

  1. Loss of consciousness, confusion, or delirium
  2. Chest or abdominal pain
  3. Inability to drink fluids
  4. Continuous vomiting
  5. Temperature more than 104°F
  6. Temperature that is rising despite attempts to cool the person

If you’re not quite ready for that drive to the ER, try to rest in a cool place, drink plenty of fluids with Electrolytes (like Gatoraid), take a cool shower and avoid alcohol and caffeine (which are further dehydrating).

With Heat Exhaustion, avoid strenuous exercise for a few days and let your body re-boot.

Pay attention to these conditions on the jobsite as the summer heats up.

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 17, 2009

Death Before Dishonor
Filed under: Ned Weirdness — nedpelger

I came across this cool free download that I thought you might enjoy.

The Secrets of Jujitsu: A Complete Course in Self Defense

Written in 1920 by Captain Smith, a US Army hand to hand combat instructor for WWI, this book illustrates his years of learning self-defense secrets in Japan from the Jujitsu style. He also includes several great submission tricks for bringing a hooligan to his knees with a simple wrist grip or escorting a trouble maker outside with special arm grip.

The writing style of the book makes me smile, this honorable guy teaching valuable information back at the Great War. If you check it out I’m sure you’ll learn something useful you didn’t know. He ends the book with the phrase “Death Before Dishonor”, which I hope I embrace in my life.

While thinking of death, I got an odd email from my son today telling me about Google Health and one of their programs which lists one’s Advance Directive for End of Life Care. I’m not sure what Lex is trying to tell me…or if he knows something I don’t. It’s a good thing to have one of those in place, though, and I don’t. So I printed it out and will make my decisions, then sign, scan and file on Google Health. One more thing off my to do list. I encourage you to do the same.

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 15, 2009

The Biggest Construction Boom to Bust
Filed under: Industry outlook — Tags: — nedpelger

It seems Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, may have the dubious distinction of the biggest construction boom to bust. Just a year ago, Dubai was growing and building at a rate that was probably beyond any in history (I’m guessing on that). The world’s tallest building, and not just by a little, was going up along with hundreds of other buildings and a few man-made islands.

The global financial crisis hit Dubai hard. Most of the construction stopped and the property values are half what they were at this time last year. The Economist has an article The Perils of Autocracy that provides some great insights into the status. They state that the outstanding debt level isn’t clear. The ruler of Dubai, pictured below, doesn’t have to be forthcoming with the numbers because, well, he’s the Sheikh.

Dubai_ruler

Guesses on the debt run from $80 billion to $120 billion. Lots of construction companies haven’t been paid.

The completion date on the Burj Dubai (world’s tallest building) remains fluid, though a news release today claimed a December 2009 opening. Most construction activity in Dubai has ceased, though, and no one knows what the next steps will be. The Economist article quotes a Western banker who blames the Dubai leaders for taking far too long to recognize the coming crisis. I love his quote, “They were splashing about in the water when they should have been swimming across the channel.”

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 14, 2009

Beautiful Bridges
Filed under: Cool Projects — Tags: — nedpelger

I came across a blog post of the world’s 10 greatest bridges. The New River Gorge bridge in West Virginia made the list and is pictured below.

bridge_new_river_gorge_WV

I’ve always enjoyed the beauty and grace of well designed bridges. My own list would include a Robert Maillart bridge as well as a wooden covered bridge.

Covered bridge FH 1-20-05

Do you have one weird pick for a bridge favorite?

Speaking of bridge favorites, you may want to watch this 1940s newsreel of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxTZ446tbzE]

It’s instructive to watch that video occasionally to be reminded of the power of harmonic frequency. My favorite part of the footage is watching the old guy in the pick-up truck stuck on the bridge.

CONSTRUCTION KNOWLEDGE BLOG

July 13, 2009

Study What Fails
Filed under: Sitework — Tags: — nedpelger

I came upon a site that shows some engineering failures. All of us in the construction industry should continue to pay attention both to what works and what doesn’t. We need to study failures to try to avoid the mistakes, but also to keep in mind the magnitude the problems can take.

The photo below shows a 5 story building that toppled.

building_tilt_mat_footings

Look at the mat foundation under that building. The likelihood of over-turning failure seems high with a nothing but a shallow mat foundation on that small footprint.

In Central PA, where I mostly build, we have sinkholes in the limestone bedrock. I’ve helped fix hundreds of these annoying openings over the years. I don’t get too excited when the Construction Supervisor calls to tell me another sink hole opened somewhere on site. The photo below takes sinkhole to another order of magnitude, though.

sinkhole

Apparently this massive sinkhole opened in Florida. Look at the size of the cars to the left (about 10 o’clock). That certainly ruined somebodies day.

We all know we should pay attention to what works, to study success and try to re-create it. Remember to study failure as well. Things can go wrong in many ways. Learn to pay attention to the failures of others, since you won’t live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself.

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