Safe Steel and Concrete Thank you for publishing your article on concrete and steel, “Negative Tactics of Concrete Promoter Infuriate Steel Boosters”. I am a producer of concrete and we do many concrete-reinforced buildings as well as steel-framed buildings. We strongly believe that whether it’s concrete-framed or steel-framed, it should be built for safety. My only comment is to help educate and remove the perception that a high-rise Class A long-span office building cannot be built with a concrete frame, when in fact it can and is being done all around the world today. Whether concrete-framed or steel-framed, I think we
I was in Iraq for seven months from approximately May of 2004 until December 2004. While there I was the Director of Program Management for the reconstruction effort. I coordinated the efforts of six engineering firms and about 12 design-build contractors who were planning, designing and building about 2,500 projects. They were spread across many areas, including: electricity, oil, water, wastewater, hospitals, schools, roads and courthouses. While performing this task, I had the opportunity to work with many wonderful people from US and coalition military officers, U.S. ambassadors, Iraqi ministries, government officials, and engineers, and the Iraqi people. Keller, right,
LENNON Construction and demolition recycling is expanding rapidly as more architects and owners support sustainable building practices. Recycling is almost always a key element and more contractors are offering their own "green building" services while processors are recycling everything from wallboard to roofing and haulers are adding recycling as a new service. Haulers are a critical link. Contractors typically expect them to swap containers in and out on schedule and also advise on what wastes can be recycled and track where wastes go. Haulers are the source of documentation critical for reporting under the Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy
Florida’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge collapsed in 1980, killing 35 motorists. An Amtrak bridge in Alabama failed in 1993, resulting in 47 deaths. The Queen Isabelle Causeway in Texas collapsed in 2001, killing eight people. And the Interstate-40 Bridge in Oklahoma collapsed in 2002, resulting in 14 deaths. In all these seemingly unrelated disasters, ships or barges deviated from shipping channels, striking the bridge and causing the collapse. In the last 25 years, straying vessels caused five high-profile U.S. bridge collapses, causing 105 deaths. So what can engineers do? A recent study of collapsed bridges found that engineers designed piers adjacent
Investing for Future I have to disagree with your story, "New Statewide Building Code Will Burden Home Repairs," that code adoption and enforcement in Louisiana is a "burden." Yes, rebuilding to the new codes will be more costly in some Louisiana parishes, especially those that had no codes prior to Hurricane Katrina. In the long run, the upfront costs of rebuilding are an investment in the future. We know that these types of investments pay off. For every dollar put into mitigation, you can save $3 to $5 in future losses. Also, these communities now have a starting point to
Thomas Ryan Tired of hearing about “paradigm shifts” from business gurus? So am I. So I’ll just call my idea for construction employers a suggestion. Instead of reducing costs by cutting employee benefits, how about looking to improve your management systems to increase profits? Here’s what I mean. The end of a year is the time when many companies look at health and fringe benefits. With the out-of-this-world cost of health insurance, many company owners and senior managers look at alternative providers of health insurance. Although it is good stewardship—a word that is incorporated into the name of our company—to
Safety Expert Gets a Seat In Photo Contest Judging Decisions. Judges (left to right) Magee, Shepherd, Young and Hurtado evaluated entries. There was a subtle change in the rules of ENR's fourth annual photo contest. The entry form asked for "dynamic, well-composed, dramatic and aesthetically pleasing pictures of people working safely, projects and structures, equipment and materials." We added the words "working safely" after we got dozens of letters last year from readers who told us that they do not find photos that show unsafe work practices to be aesthetically pleasing (ENR 1/31 p. 4). We also invited Bob Magee,
Stronger Ethics Codes Your team in "Walking a Fine Line" has done a good job in maintaining the focus of our industry on the challenges of legal and ethical decisions (ENR 11/7 p. 26). One must be reminded that the line drawn by the laws of our country only sets minimum standards of professional behavior and are not the line against which ethical behavior and decisions should be measured. Though the construction industry has an image problem when it comes to a desirable career path, it has a reality problem when it comes to ethics. In a recent FMI/CMAA study,
SCHULTE The National Institute of Standards and Technology on Oct. 26 released the final report on its investigation into the collapse of the World Trade Center. Having studied and written extensively on the collapse, I agree with Rep. Sherwood Boehlert�s (R-N.Y.) statements at the time that the NIST investigation goes �far beyond� the collapse of the towers as a result of terrorist attacks and that �the protection of life is the highest responsibility of public officials.� It is for these reasons that I am opposed to implementation of most of NIST�s 30 recommendations for improving the way high-rise buildings are
Delony Recent data suggest that half, if not more, of our nation’s historic spans have been lost in the last 22 years–two decades in which transportation and preservation awareness reached unprecedented levels. This is an alarming and sobering statistic. Bridge building paced the evolution of building technology but had a much more enduring impact on engineering, manufacturing and the settlement of the U.S. Surviving bridges are tangible evidence of this legacy but we are fast approaching the point of no return in saving some prime examples. On Aug. 10, 2005, President Bush signed the $286.4-billion transportation bill funding roads, bridges
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