Patchin Here’s something that doesn’t happen very often to an old ironworker (or any ironworker for that matter). I live and work in the San Francisco area and recently I was at Laguna Honda Hospital and the contractor, Turner, was letting Timberland , the shoe and clothing company, do a photo shoot for their new line of boots. One of the assistant superintendents for Turner, a guy named Cory, asked me if he could borrow some tools and a couple of dirty and worn-looking vests for their models to look authentic. So I gave them my tools and some stinky old
McLaren The water quality in major U.S. harbors has improved drastically over the last 15 years thanks primarily to the strict standards established by the federal Clean Water Act of 1972. An unfortunate by-product of that effort, however, is the resurgence of micro-organisms that feed upon submerged wood, commonly called marine borers. These creatures have caused the collapse of dozens of piers in New York Harbor, as well as marine structures on other waterfronts. Two types of marine borers are responsible for most damage. Limnoria are shrimp-like crustaceans that swarm around piles of wood and eat it from the outside,
BRUCKNER Gary Tulacz’s article, “Worrying about Labor Shortages,” in ENR’s Top Owners Sourcebook 2005, reflects the deep misgivings of leading owners regarding the current and future labor shortages in construction. Quite accurately Tulacz stated that “if there is a universal concern among large corporate owners, it is whether there will be enough people available to do the work on future projects.” And the same concern is voiced by major contractors and builders in the U.S. I recently spoke with many heads of construction management departments at U.S. schools. They all had the same plea: “Help us attract new talent to
Art Fox The world’s best-known mining engineer must be spinning in his grave as the keeper of a gold medal in his honor–the Hoover Medal Board of Award–goes year after year tangled in procedural underwear (and maybe inter-association conflict), failing to give the medal. The board has been unable to award one of the engineering profession’s highest honors in three of the past seven years. And now it has put aside yet another time a deserving candidate for the medal, deciding to make no award in 2006. I find this particularly offensive. I am the nominator of the candidate who
Who is the top engineer of all of New York City? The answer is no one. What single, high-level licensed design professional consistently has Mayor Michael Bloomberg�s ear on schools, roads and water supply. Again, that person doesn�t exist. RICHARD KORMAN Salvatore Galletta wants New York City to hire someone to do that job from an office in City Hall. Galletta is a short, amiable man with a mustache and he is also an engineer in the engineering audit office of New York City�s Department of Transportation. He is an active member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and
WIBLE Effective building codes and their efficient enforcement are vital to the safety of our citizens and the economic vitality of our communities. This has been amply illustrated by the U.S. Geological Survey report “Managing Risk in Earthquake Country,” marking the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, and by the April 27 follow-up session from the March 1-2, 2006 Blue Cascades III seismic disaster exercise in Bellevue, Wash. There is growing documentation of the urgent need to identify and eliminate administrative inefficiencies in the regulation of the design and construction of buildings. Lessons learned from hurricanes Katrina
(Photo courtesy of FEMA) More than six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated communities all along the Florida to Louisiana Gulf Coast and overwhelmed the hurricane protection system and levees of New Orleans, many residents of that city are still wary of rebuilding their homes, business and lives. They want to know what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is doing to restore and improve the hurricane protection system. Many also want to know why they should again put their faith in the Corps to protect them from future storms. Speaking for the Corps, I can say we will do absolutely
SHORT The construction bidding process is in deep trouble. Just open your local newspaper or read ENR. Projects are coming in far over budget and owners can’t attract enough bidders to assure competitive prices. Worse, owners are incurring major cost overruns after starting projects. The root cause of these problems is that owners, architects and engineers are not using reliable means to obtain the correct project numbers in the first place. It appears that management edicts or wishful thinking are driving budgets instead of estimating professionals. Owners, such as the California Dept. of Transportation, that hope for multiple bids or
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
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